Gaza under siege: Hamas govt heads, 400 Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli bombing

Hamas on Tuesday named the head of its government in the Gaza Strip, Essam al-Dalis, among a list of officials it said were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory.

“These leaders, along with their families, were martyred after being directly targeted by the Zionist occupation forces’ aircraft,” said the Hamas statement, which also named interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa and Bahjat Abu Sultan, director-general of the internal security service, among those killed.

Dalis, who was a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, was elected to the movement’s Gaza leadership in March 2021 and became the head of its administration in June of that year.

At least 404 people, including many children, have been killed in renewed Israeli attacks that have shattered a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The Health Ministry’s toll is expected to rise as many victims remain under the rubble.

Israel, which has enforced a total aid blockade on Gaza for more than two weeks, issues new forced displacement orders for several areas.

In November 2023, Israel claimed to have bombed a Hamas structure in which Dalis was present with other leaders who were killed.

Two Hamas sources told AFP earlier that a strike on Gaza City killed the movement’s interior ministry head Abu Watfa.

Israel vowed to continue fighting in Gaza until the return of all hostages as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a January ceasefire.