Israel says it killed Hamas military commander in Gaza strike

The Israeli army said Friday it had killed a senior Hamas commander in a strike carried out in Gaza earlier this week.

Imad Hassan Hussein Aslim was the deputy commander of the Gaza City Brigade, the army said in a statement.

He was also the commander of the Zeitoun Battalion of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, it added.

The military alleged that Aslim participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

The strike which killed Aslim also targeted another Hamas commander, the army said, without giving a name.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas or the Qassam Brigades on the Israeli claim.

On Wednesday, Hamas announced the death of Mohammed Awda, a senior Qassam Brigades commander, in an Israeli strike on a residential building in Gaza City that also killed his wife and two of his children.

The latest Israeli claim comes amid continued violations of the ceasefire that took effect last October. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 922 Palestinians have been killed and 2,786 injured in ceasefire violations since then.

The ceasefire was reached after two years of war in Gaza. According to Palestinian authorities, the conflict has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 172,000 others, while causing widespread destruction across the enclave.

*Writing by Sahin Demir in Istanbul.