Gaza police chief killed in Israeli strike, officials say
Brig Gen Abdel-Nasser Al-Maqadma was killed in Gaza City as other Israeli strikes killed five Palestinians, officials and medics said.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
The Gaza police chief killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday was Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser Al-Maqadma, the head of the Hamas-led police force in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry and medics. The killing adds to a series of Israeli attacks on Gaza’s police force, which Israel says includes Hamas military figures and Hamas says is being targeted to destabilise the enclave.
Al-Maqadma, who also served as governor of northern Gaza, was hit in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City, the ministry and medics said. The Israeli military said he was also a member of Hamas’s military wing.
Officials and medics said other Israeli attacks on Saturday killed five more Palestinians. The reported deaths came as both sides traded accusations over violations of a US-brokered ceasefire reached in October.
Who was the Gaza police chief killed?
Al-Maqadma led the Hamas-run police force in northern Gaza and also held the post of governor of northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry. Israel’s military said he had a role in Hamas’s armed wing, a claim reported alongside the ministry’s account of his police and civil positions.
Israel has killed dozens of members of the Hamas-led police in recent months, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Israel has alleged that many police force members were linked to Hamas’s armed wing and posed an active threat.
Hamas has accused Israel of deliberately striking the force to weaken internal order in Gaza. Hamas also called the attacks another breach of the October ceasefire.
What other strikes were reported?
Medics said an Israeli strike killed a Palestinian medic in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Two more people were killed in a house in Khan Younis, according to the same accounts.
The Israeli military said the Khan Younis house was attacked because it was targeting a member of Islamic Jihad. The reports did not name the people killed in that strike.
Later on Saturday, another air strike in Khan Younis killed high school student Khaled Al-Breim, relatives said. His relatives said he had gone to bring sweets to relatives and friends who had come to his family’s home to congratulate him after he finished high school and prepared for university.
A sixth Palestinian death reported Saturday was a policeman who had been wounded in an Israeli strike the previous week, medics said. He died from his injuries on Saturday.
What is the status of the ceasefire?
The ceasefire was brokered by the United States and signed in October, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Hamas says the police strikes are part of Israel’s breaches of the deal, while Israel says it is targeting people it identifies as members of armed groups.
Since the truce agreement was signed, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,180 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Over the same period, four Israeli soldiers have been killed in attacks in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.