Israel kills senior Hamas commander in Gaza, officials say

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Izz al-Din al-Beik, the head of Hamas’s armed wing in the northern Gaza Strip, was killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment block in the ‌Nassr neighbourhood of Gaza City on Tuesday morning.

The killing was confirmed in a statement by Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that the military had killed al-Beik in a joint statement on X.

Another person reportedly died from wounds sustained in the attack, according to Al-Shifa Hospital.

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Al-Beik succeeded senior commander Ahmed al-Ghandour, leading the Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza.

This comes as Israel has intensified strikes on Hamas in Gaza over recent weeks.

The IDF says it has killed at least 20 members of Hamas this month, including a string of senior commanders and several people who it claimed participated in Hamas’ October 7th attack.

Hamas has accused Israeli forces of contravening the US-supported “ceasefire” deal agreed by the two sides last October.

The deal outlines the goal of eventually reconstructing the territory, but this has seen minimal progress as mediators have failed to agree on disarmament terms for Hamas, or troop withdrawal terms for Israel.

IDF attacks on Gaza have continued, and over 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the “ceasefire” came into place, according to the territory’s Ministry of Health.

The ‌Israeli military claims that four of its soldiers have also been killed.

Palestinian authorities say over 74,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.