Salah al-Bardaweel, a leading Hamas political figure, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Bardaweel, considered the top political figure in Hamas, and his wife were murdered in the airstrike, according to locals. There was no immediate response from Israeli officials.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities, the number of fatalities since the start of the conflict has topped 50,000, with at least 30 people killed in Khan Yunis and Rafah on Sunday alone.

The first phase of a ceasefire that lasted over two months was effectively ended when Israel started heavy bombings on Gaza earlier this week. The rejection of a fresh US request to prolong the truce was attributed to Hamas.

In response, Hamas claimed that Israel had broken the terms of the initial agreement, which was negotiated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt. It called for discussions to completely stop the war and rebuild Gaza, as well as the departure of Israeli forces and the following release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas stated in a statement on Sunday that Bardaweel, 66, and his wife were praying when an Israeli missile hit their tent. Bardaweel, a father of eight, was a leading political figure in Hamas.

Since the ceasefire deal collapsed last Tuesday, southern Gaza has seen one of the most intensive waves of aerial bombardment, including the airstrike that killed Bardaweel.

Israeli forces surrounded a number of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s ambulances as they tried to get to an area in Rafah that had been struck by an Israeli attack. Several paramedics were injured, he continued, and one of the trapped teams, which has been under siege for hours, has lost touch.

Following intense shelling and a limited ground attack, the Israeli forces ordered inhabitants of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah to evacuate. Israeli forces stationed near the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egyptian border launched the onslaught, which also involved helicopters and tank fire.

Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were held hostage in an extraordinary cross-border raid on October 7, 2023, prompting the Israeli forces to commence a war to eliminate Hamas.

Since then, the health ministry operated by Hamas claims that over 49,500 Palestinians have died in Gaza, and most of the Strip’s infrastructure and residences have been destroyed.

-Deeprows News