Article informationAuthor, Lucy Clarke-BillingsRole, BBC Information 2 hours agoThe Israeli army says senior Hamas commander Rafa Salama used to be killed in an air strike in Gaza on Saturday. Hamas has no longer showed the record. The Hamas-run well being ministry in Gaza stated that Israel’s strike hit a camp for displaced other folks in a delegated humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, killing no less than 90 Palestinians and injuring 289 others.Israel has stated the strike used to be focused on senior Hamas leaders, however Hamas says the declare is “false” and serves to “justify” the assault.Eyewitnesses stated they noticed no less than 5 “large warplanes bombing in the course of Al Mawasi house, west of Khan Younis”.Lots of the injured had been despatched to the close by Nasser sanatorium. On the other hand, in line with officers and medics, the ability is “now not ready to serve as” as docs are “crushed with massive numbers of casualties”.Talking to Newshour at the BBC Global Carrier, Dr Mohammed Abu Rayya, who’s at a sanatorium coping with the aftermath of the assault, stated the vast majority of the ones injured had been affected by a couple of shrapnel wounds.He stated it used to be like being in “hell”, including that most of the casualties had been civilians, particularly girls and youngsters. The Israeli military stated Salama, a commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, used to be some of the “masterminds” of the 7 October assault and a detailed affiliate of Mohammed Deif, the highest commander of Hamas’s army wing. An army spokesman stated Salama’s dying “considerably impedes Hamas’ army functions”.It isn’t recognized whether or not Deif used to be killed. The Israeli military stated he used to be additionally focused within the strike. Deif has been amongst Israel’s maximum sought after males for many years and is blamed by way of Israeli government for the killings of a couple of civilians and squaddies.In a joint remark reporting Salama’s “removal”, the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) and the Israel Safety Company (ISA) stated Salama joined Hamas within the early Nineteen Nineties and used to be appointed to the location of commander of the Khan Younis Brigade below the command of Mohammed Sinwar. A Hamas reputable, cited by way of Reuters, known as the assault a “grave escalation” that confirmed Israel used to be no longer concerned with attaining a ceasefire settlement.The ceasefire negotiations being held in Qatar and Egypt ended on Friday with out good fortune, the BBC understands.
