Israeli strikes kill senior Gaza police official and four others

CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed the head of the police force in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to Gaza's interior ministry and medics, as separate strikes across the enclave left at least four other Palestinians dead.

Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser Al-Maqadma, who was also identified as the governor of the northern Gaza Strip, was killed in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City, medics said. The Israeli military said he was part of Hamas' military wing. Israel has killed dozens of police personnel, including senior officials, in recent months, alleging that many were members of Hamas' armed wing.

Hamas says Israeli attacks on the police force and its headquarters are meant to create disorder and chaos in the enclave and breach the US-brokered October ceasefire.

Other strikes reported in Nuseirat and Khan Younis

Medics said another Israeli strike on Saturday killed a Palestinian medic in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. They also said a police officer who had been wounded in an Israeli strike last week later died of his injuries. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on that incident.

In southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Khan Younis, killing two people, medics said. The Israeli military said the strike had targeted a fighter from the Islamic Jihad group.

Later on Saturday, another airstrike in Khan Younis killed Khaled Al-Breim, a high school student, bringing the day's death toll to at least five. Relatives said he was killed while trying to take sweets to relatives and friends gathered at his family home to congratulate him after he had finished high school and was preparing for university. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on his death.

Ceasefire holds but violence continues

The latest killings raise the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since the October ceasefire took effect to more than 1,180, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials. Hamas does not usually announce its losses. While the truce stopped full-scale fighting, near-daily Israeli strikes have continued. Over the same period, four Israeli soldiers have been killed by fighters in Gaza.

Mediators including Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and the United States have been trying to push forward US President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza conflict, which предусматривает Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawals, but there has been little sign of progress.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Gaza health officials say Israel's subsequent offensive has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians.

Israel effectively controls an estimated 64 per cent of Gaza. Nearly all of the territory's 2 million residents are now confined to a small area, largely living in makeshift tents or damaged buildings under harsh conditions.