An Israeli airstrike on Sunday killed a senior officer of the Hamas-run Palestinian internal security service in the Gaza Strip and an associate as they traveled in a vehicle through Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, medics and police officials said.
The strike killed Colonel Wael El-Ledawi, head of the service in central Gaza, and Major Ramez Abu Zraiq, medics and the Hamas-run interior ministry said.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a strike against a Hamas militant, without further details.
Israel has killed dozens of members of the Hamas-led police force, including senior officials, in the past months, accusing many of them of being members of the Hamas armed wing who posed imminent threats to Israel and its forces inside Gaza.
IDF kills Hamas department head, Nukhba terrorist in two separate Gaza strikes this week
The IDF killed the head of a department in Hamas’ Weapons Production Headquarters in a precise strike in northern Gaza on Sunday, the military announced.
Fares Al-Masr was involved in weapons manufacturing to help Hamas rebuild its military capabilities.
In a separate strike in northern Gaza on Tuesday, the IDF killed Muhammad Abu Shakyan, a Hamas Nukhba terrorist. Both Shakyan and Al-Masr have been involved in attacks targeting IDF troops and Israeli civilians in recent months.
Sowing chaos and anarchy in Gaza
Hamas says Israeli attacks on the police force and its headquarters are intended to sow chaos and anarchy in the enclave and violate the US-brokered October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The latest deaths add to a toll of more than 1,190 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza health officials.
Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.
The truce halted full-scale fighting but has not ended near-daily Israeli strikes. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
Israel effectively controls an estimated 64% of the tiny coastal Strip. Nearly all of Gaza's 2 million people now live on a sliver of land on the coast, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings and facing dire conditions, under Hamas control.