A senior Hamas administration official, Ehab Al-Ghussein, was among four people killed in an Israeli air strike on a school in Gaza City, according to Palestinian sources.
Al-Ghussein had been appointed three months ago to manage the Hamas government affairs in Gaza City and northern Gaza, a local official told reporters.
The Israeli army stated that the airstrike targeted a school building in Gaza City, claiming it was a location where “terrorists were operating and hiding.”
They also mentioned taking steps to minimize civilian casualties. Eyewitnesses reported that the attack targeted the Holy Family School next to the Holy Family Church in the western part of Gaza City, where many people were sheltering.
The strike hit two classrooms on the ground floor.
Al-Ghussein, who was previously the deputy labour minister in the Hamas administration and an interior ministry spokesman, was considered a significant figure in the Hamas leadership, although his death is not seen as a military blow to Hamas.
In the past nine months, several other Hamas officials have been killed, including the deputy culture minister and the deputy speaker of the legislative council in an airstrike last November.
Additionally, the Israeli military issued another evacuation order for a central part of Gaza City.
Ibrahim Al-Barbari, a resident of the Bani Amer neighbourhood, told the media that dozens of families were leaving, with women and children carrying bags and heading west. “We heard from the neighbours that we had to leave the house.
We haven’t received any calls or texts from the army, but we have already started gathering our belongings in preparation for moving again. We have been living in a state of near famine for months,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that any ceasefire deal in Gaza must allow Israel to resume fighting afterwards until its objectives are met.
He has defined these objectives as dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, as well as returning hostages. Hamas officials stated they are awaiting Israel’s response to the latest ceasefire proposals.
Israel’s offensive was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, at least 38,098 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s actions.
Source-BBC
