ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE KILLS GAZA CITY POLICE CHIEF

An Israeli drone strike killed Colonel Jamal Abu Kamil, head of the civil police force in Gaza City, on Thursday. Gaza's Ministry of Interior said the drone fired three missiles at his vehicle on al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City, also injuring two others. 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 this claim in a statement, saying Abu Kamil "committed to his police duties and has no connection to other activities".

The killing came a day after Israel ended a weeklong pause in air raids on Gaza. An earlier strike on Thursday targeted a motorbike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing one person and critically wounding another; Israel made the same claim that it was targeting a Hamas commander, without providing evidence. A separate strike on Wednesday in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza critically wounded one person and killed a municipal worker, with five others wounded. According to one account, Abu Kamil's killing was described by Gaza's Ministry of Interior as an "assassination".

Hamas 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". Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes despite a ceasefire that took effect on 10 October 2025. A weeklong pause in air operations ended on Wednesday, though ground attacks have continued throughout the period.