Israel steps up strikes on Hamas police in Gaza despite ceasefire

GAZA CITY – Israel has intensified its air strikes across Gaza despite an ongoing ceasefire agreement, increasingly targeting members of Hamas-run police and security forces in what appears to be a broader effort to weaken the Palestinian group’s grip on areas under its control.

Health officials in Gaza and Hamas sources said on Wednesday that an Israeli airstrike killed a senior officer in the Interior Ministry run by Hamas in the enclave.

Medics said the strike targeted the vehicle of Naseem al-Kalazani, a colonel in the Hamas police force, near the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. At least 17 other people were wounded in the attack, according to emergency workers.

Hamas sources said Kalazani headed the anti-narcotics unit in Khan Younis.

The strike came amid an apparent escalation in Israeli attacks against Gaza’s Hamas-administered police force, which Israel views as a central pillar of the movement’s authority inside the enclave. Reuters previously reported that Israel had sharply increased attacks on the force in recent months, killing around 12 police officers during a single week in March.

The Hamas-run police apparatus, believed to include around 10,000 officers, has become a contentious issue in negotiations surrounding US President Donald Trump’s proposed post-war framework for Gaza.

Hamas wants members of the force integrated into a future Palestinian security structure under the plan, while Israel has rejected the inclusion of any officers linked to the group.

Later on Wednesday, Gaza health officials said another Israeli airstrike near the Zeitoun district of Gaza City killed at least three Palestinians, bringing the total number killed in Israeli strikes during the day to at least four. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on either incident.

Violence has continued across Gaza despite the ceasefire reached in October 2025, with Israel carrying out near-daily strikes while Hamas and Israel accuse each other of repeatedly violating the truce.

According to local medics, at least 830 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect. Israel says four of its soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period.

Israeli officials say the strikes are intended to prevent Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions from regrouping or carrying out attacks against Israeli forces.

The war in Gaza began in October 2023 and has since devastated the territory. Gaza health authorities say more than 72,500 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict erupted.

Earlier, Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office, said Israel had killed more than 2,800 police officers in Gaza since the start of the war.