Israeli strike kills top Hamas official, Gaza toll crosses 50k

CAIRO: An Israeli air strike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political member, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, the militant group said, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000.

Hamas said the air strike on Khan Younis killed Bardaweel and his wife. The Israeli military confirmed in a statement on Sunday that it had killed the Hamas official on Saturday. "This elimination further degrades Hamas' military and govt capabilities," the military added.

After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas.

Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas in what witnesses said was an escalation of the attacks that began earlier in the week. At least 30 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far on Sunday, health authorities said. Those killed included three municipal employees, medics said.

Bardaweel was a member of the Hamas decision-making body, the political office, and had held posts such as heading the Hamas delegation for indirect truce talks with Israel in 2009 and led the group's media office in 2005. "His blood, that of his wife and martyrs, will remain fuelling the battle of liberation," the group said.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the main aim of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and governing entity. He has said the aim of the new campaign is to force the group to give up remaining hostages. Israel launched its initial assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the Jan ceasefire agreement by refusing to begin negotiations for an end to the war and a withdrawal of its troops from Gaza. But Hamas has said it is still willing to negotiate and was studying "bridging" proposals from the US.

At least 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and 113,274 wounded since the beginning of the war, the health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Israeli military spokespersonn issued an evacuation warning on X for residents in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah in the south of the strip.