Israeli Air Strike Kills Senior Hamas Official, Teenager at Gaza Hospital
An Israeli air strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, has resulted in the deaths of at least two people, including a senior Hamas official and a 16-year-old boy, Al Jazeera reports, citing Hamas and Palestinian health officials.
Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, was killed late Sunday while receiving treatment at the hospital, Hamas announced in a statement. The group condemned the strike as a “crime” and an act of “terrorism” that violates international laws and conventions.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Barhoum was the target of the attack.
The Israeli military issued a statement saying the strike was carried out using “precise munitions in order to mitigate harm” and followed an “extensive intelligence-gathering process.” The military accused Hamas of exploiting civilian infrastructure, stating, “Hamas exploits civilian infrastructure while brutally endangering the Gazan population – cynically using an active hospital as a shelter for planning and executing murderous terrorist attacks in a direct violation of international law.”
The reported assassination of Barhoum comes hours after Hamas claimed Israeli forces killed Salah al-Bardawil, another member of the group’s political bureau, and his wife in a strike on a tent shelter in Khan Younis.
Since Tuesday, when Israeli forces resumed major military operations in Gaza following a stalemate over the next stage of a ceasefire with Hamas, Israel has killed four members of Hamas’s political bureau.
Footage from outside Nasser Hospital showed a large explosion erupting from the building’s upper floors as an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent was preparing to broadcast live from the scene.
Palestinian health officials report that Israeli forces have killed over 600 people since resuming their assault on Gaza, including dozens in the past 24 hours.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that the official death toll in Gaza since the start of the war has surpassed 50,000. Experts believe this figure likely underestimates the true number of fatalities.
