Gaza City police chief killed as Israel pushes on with deadly strikes

An Israeli drone strike has killed the head of the civil police force in Gaza City.

Gaza’s Ministry of Interior said Colonel Jamal Abu Kamil, 43, was killed on Thursday when a drone fired three missiles at his vehicle on al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City, also injuring two others.

The killing comes a day after Israel ended a weeklong pause in air raids on the strip. The pause did not see an end to deadly ground attacks, as Israel continues to violate a so-called “ceasefire” agreed to in October.

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 the claim, releasing a statement saying that Abu Kamil “committed to his police duties and has no connection to other activities”.

Gaza’s Ministry of Interior said Abu Kamil “was assassinated” in the Israeli strike.

Hamas also 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”.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli strike targeted a motorbike carrying two people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing one person and critically wounding the other. The deceased was identified as Huthaifa Kawari, according to Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. Israel made the same claim that it was targeting a Hamas commander, without providing evidence.

Strikes resume

On Wednesday, Israel carried out its first air strike in Gaza since August 3, attacking a vehicle in Beit Lahiya, which killed a municipal worker and wounded five others.

Israel had halted air raids for more than a week under United States pressure after President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “major milestone” in his plan to end the war.

Trump announced last month that Israel and Hamas had agreed to his 15-point plan, to be implemented by the Gaza Board of Peace, under which Israeli forces would withdraw and Hamas would disarm.

Hamas said it accepts the deal to avoid a return to full-scale war, but insists that implementation depends on Israel first withdrawing its forces and halting attacks.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a rejection of the agreement on Sunday, saying Israeli forces would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas was “genuinely disarmed”. Three days later, air strikes resumed.

Israel’s near-daily attacks since the “ceasefire” had taken effect on October 10, 2025, have killed more than 1,250 Palestinians, Gaza’s Ministry of Health says.

On Thursday, Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called for the US-backed Gaza Peace Plan to be implemented, also condemning attacks by Israeli forces against Palestinians returning to Gaza and continued settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.