Hamas Spokesperson Killed in Israeli Air Strike as Renewed Gaza Assault Continues

A Hamas spokesperson, Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, was killed early Thursday morning in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, as per Al Jazeera.

The strike comes as the Israeli army continues its renewed and intensified assault on the besieged enclave.

Al-Aqsa television and the Shehab News Agency reported that al-Qanoua was killed when Israeli fighter jets bombed his tent shelter in the northern city of Jabalia.

Israel abruptly ended a fragile two-month ceasefire on March 18, resuming its intense bombing campaign and ground operations in Gaza. Since then, hundreds of Palestinian civilians have been killed, according to reports, in what Israel claims is an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining captives seized during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Several senior Hamas officials have been killed in the past week. On Sunday, an Israeli air strike on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed five people, including Ismail Barhoum, the head of finances and institutions within Hamas’s political office. That same day, Salah al-Bardaweel, a prominent Hamas political leader and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was killed alongside his wife in an Israeli air strike that targeted tents housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis. Reuters news agency reports that eleven members of Hamas’s 20-member political office have been killed since the start of the war.

Hamas still holds 59 of the approximately 250 captives taken during the October 7 attack.

Since Israel launched its ground and air assault on Gaza, at least 50,183 Palestinians have been killed and 113,828 others wounded, according to figures from Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Approximately 830 people have been killed since Israel resumed attacks 10 days ago, with women and children reportedly comprising more than half of the casualties.

The United Nations’ humanitarian agency (OCHA) reported on Tuesday that 142,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by the Israeli military since March 18, further exacerbating a dire humanitarian situation caused by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on aid entering Gaza.

The rising death toll coincides with stalled ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. Mediators have so far failed to secure an extension to the first stage of a three-phase agreement, which expired on March 1. Hamas has accused Israel of intentionally sabotaging truce discussions aimed at achieving a permanent end to fighting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed he ordered Israeli forces to renew attacks on Gaza after Hamas rejected proposals to secure an extension. On Wednesday, Netanyahu repeated threats that Israel would seize territory in Gaza if Hamas failed to release the remaining captives.

While Hamas killed at least 1,139 people in Israel during the October 7 attacks, according to reports, its actions also triggered the ongoing conflict in Gaza.