By Nidal and al-Mughrabi
CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters) – Israeli strikes killed at least eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, health officials said, as ceasefire efforts meant to end fighting between Israel and the Hamas militant group falter.
In the weeks since halting its joint bombing with the U.S. in Iran, Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza, where Hamas has been tightening its grip, even as Israeli troops remain in control of more than half the territory.
Medics said an Israeli strike killed one Palestinian near a police post and another at a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it killed a militant who posed an immediate threat to forces in the area.
Separately, Gaza medics said another Israeli airstrike killed at least three people at a community kitchen near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza area. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas commander developing anti-tank missiles.
Gaza medical officials said three more Palestinians were killed, one in a shooting incident in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip and two others in an Israeli airstrike near a bakery in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza, was killed in what it described as a precise strike on Gaza City on Friday.
Hamas confirmed Haddad’s death but stopped short of threatening revenge.
HAMAS COMMANDER KILLED IN CAR
The Israeli military said it had also killed Bahaa Baroud, a Hamas Operations Headquarters commander, in an airstrike on Saturday, accusing him of planning multiple imminent attacks against troops and Israeli civilians in recent weeks.
The military said Baroud posed an immediate threat and was targeted in a precise strike, adding measures were taken beforehand to reduce civilian harm, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
Gaza health officials said Baroud, along with another person, was killed in the airstrike, which targeted their car in Gaza City.
Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks to advance U.S. President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for Gaza that is meant to end more than two years of fighting with Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza.
Some 870 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire, according to figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Four Israeli soldiers were killed by militants during the same period.
Hamas does not disclose figures for casualties among its fighters.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Alex Richardson and Mark Porter)
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