1 of 2 | An Israeli army tank leaves the Gaza Strip in southern Israel as seen from inside Israel on Tuesday. The death toll in the war has topped 50,000 since the latest chapter erupted Oct.7, 2023. Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI | License Photo
March 23 (UPI) — A senior Hamas official and a high ranking aide were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza Sunday evening, officials reported.
Ismail Barhoum, leader of Hamas’ financial affairs, was killed in the strike on Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility in Khan Younis, the BBC reported.
Barhoum was being treated at the hospital for wounds he received in an air strike in the region four days ago, an official with Hamas said.
The Hamas health ministry said “many others” were injured in the Sunday evening attack, including key medical personnel.
Israel claimed responsibility for the Sunday attack during what it said was an “an extensive intelligence-gathering process” and said that “precise munitions” had been used to reduce casualties and related harm. But it offered hamas’ rejection of a U.S. backed peace deal as the reason behind the attack.
The hospital department that was hit by the airstrike was evacuated after the attack left it largely destroyed, the health ministry said.
Hamas leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, was reportedly killed in a separate Israeli air strike in Khan Younis on Sunday the BBC reported.
It was the latest in a series of attacks that left at least 30 people dead in Khan Younis and Rafah by Sunday morning, a death toll that was tallied prior to the Sunday evening airstrike that killed Barhoum, according to the Hamas health ministry.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals and other key infrastructure to set up command centers and hide weapons, munitions and key personnel. Hamas has denied the accusations.
The death toll has toped 50,000 in the war between Israel and Hamas, the latest chapter of which erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.
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