An Israeli air strike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday (23), according to the militant group, while Palestinian authorities estimated the death toll in almost 18 months of conflict in over 50,000.
After two months of relative calm in the war, Gaza residents are again running away to save their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new air and terrestrial campaign on Tuesday (18) against Hamas.
Explosions echoed throughout the north, downtown and southern Gaza Strip early Sunday (23), while Israeli planes reached various targets in these areas in what witnesses said it was a climb of attacks that began earlier this week.
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Rafah and Khan Younis so far, according to health officials.
Among the dead were three municipal officials, doctors reported.
Hamas said the air strike in Khan Youis killed Bardaweel and his wife. Israeli authorities did not immediately comments.
Bardaweel was a member of the Hamas decision -making body, the political office, and held positions such as heading Hamas’s delegation for indirect truce with Israel in 2009 and led the group’s media office in 2005.
“His blood, that of his wife and martyrs, will continue to feed the battle for liberation and independence,” the group announced.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly spoke that the main objective of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and government entity.
He commented that the goal of the new campaign is to force the group to deliver the remaining hostages.
Israel launched his initial attack on Gaza after Hamas’s fighters broke into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and doing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
Hamas accused Israel of violating the terms of the January ceasefire agreement by refusing to start negotiations for the end of the war and the withdrawal of his Gaza troops.
But Hamas commented that he is still willing to negotiate and was studying proposals for the “bridge” of US President Donald Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff.
At least 50,021 Palestinians were killed and 113,274 injured since the beginning of the war, the Ministry of Health reported in a statement on Sunday (23).
Civil removal in the combat zone
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued a withdrawal alert on social network X to residents of the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah in the south of the track.
The military later reported that troops surrounded Tel Al-Sultan to dismantle “terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area” in order to reinforce control and expand the security zone in southern Gaza.
He said that the soldiers were allowing the removal of civilians from the combat zone through organized routes for their safety.
Dozens of families left their homes in Tel Al-Sultan north to Khan Youis, some on foot, while others carried their belongings and children in wagons pulled by donkeys and Riquixás.
“When the ceasefire began, we returned to set up tents near the ruins of our homes, dreaming that they would soon be rebuilt,” said Abu Khaled, a resident of Rafah.
“Now are we running out under fire for the tenth time, when will we rest? When will there be peace in this city?” He reports Uà Reuters through a chat app.
The Palestinian civil emergency service said that 50,000 residents remained arrested in Rafah after they were surprised by an Israeli army attack in their areas, warning that their lives and those of rescue teams were at risk.
Palestinian and international authorities also warned about the return of hunger risk at the enclave.
“Each day without food brings Gaza closer to a sharp crisis of hunger. Forbidding help is a collective punishment for Gaza: the vast majority of its population consists of children, women and ordinary men,” the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency, Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarin.
On March 2, Israel blocked the entry of goods in Gaza and Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor, Ophir Falk, accused Hamas of receiving help for his own use, an accusation that Hamas previously denied.
This content was originally published in Israeli air strike in Gaza Mata Hamas’s political leader on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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