Gaza City police chief killed as Israel pushes on with deadly strikes

An Israeli drone strike has killed the head of the civil police force in Gaza City.

Gaza’s Ministry of Interior said Colonel Jamal Abu Kamil, 43, was killed on Thursday when a drone fired three missiles at his vehicle on al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City, also injuring two others.

The killing comes a day after Israel ended a weeklong pause in air raids on the strip. The pause did not see an end to deadly ground attacks , as Israel continues to violate a so-called “ceasefire” agreed to in October.

The Israeli military said it targeted Abu Kamil to “remove a threat”, claiming, without providing evidence, that he was a Hamas commander.

Gaza’s police force denied the claim, releasing a statement saying that Abu Kamil “committed to his police duties and has no connection to other activities”.

Gaza’s Ministry of Interior said Abu Kamil “was assassinated” in the Israeli strike.

Hamas also condemned the killing in a statement, calling it “a continuation of the brutal crimes committed by the occupation against our Palestinian people” and its “pathetic and failed attempts to spread chaos and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip”.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli strike targeted a motorbike carrying two people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing one person and critically wounding the other. The deceased was identified as Huthaifa Kawari, according to Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. Israel made the same claim that it was targeting a Hamas commander, without providing evidence.