Reuters and other foreign media outlets reported that a senior commander of Hamas's armed wing was killed in an Israeli military attack in the northern Gaza Strip on the 29th (local time).

According to the reports, the Israeli military carried out a targeted airstrike early that morning on an apartment in the Nasr area west of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip. The military announced that the deceased commander was not only involved in planning Hamas attacks and recruiting personnel, but also ordered attacks on Israeli civilians.

The Hamas-run civil defense authority also confirmed that the deceased was Izz al-Din al-Beik, explaining that he was a member of the General Military Council of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, and the commander of the northern brigade.

The al-Qassam Brigades stated that he was one of the commanders of the surprise operation in October 2023 that triggered the Gaza war.

The Hamas civil defense authority added that the Israeli military also carried out a drone strike that afternoon on a displaced persons camp area in Jabalia, northern Gaza, killing three people and injuring several others, and that one person was killed by Israeli gunfire in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

The Israeli military claimed that armed operatives hiding in the displaced persons camp were the target.

Although a Gaza ceasefire was agreed upon in October of last year with U.S. mediation, the agreement has effectively collapsed amid growing distrust and conflict over the disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

As Israeli airstrikes have continued since then, at least 1,400 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire agreement.

The total death toll in the Gaza Strip from the war that began in October 2023 is estimated at approximately 74,000.
 
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