GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL

A Palestinian lawmaker was assassinated by the Israeli army in Gaza City, Hamas said on Tuesday.

Mohammad Faraj al-Ghoul, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and a Hamas figure, was killed in a strike targeting him in the city, the group added in a statement.

Ghoul also served as a justice minister in the former government of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh from 2007 to 2012.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing nearly 58,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of diseases.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.