On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people in the Gaza Strip, including three children and two high-ranking officers in the Hamas-run police force. One strike early in the day hit a tent in the Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.
Another strike in the central Gaza Strip killed at least eight Palestinians, who were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.
The Israeli military stated that it targeted Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, who was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas’ armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces. Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.
The military claims that Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel. The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.
The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.