Israeli airstrike kills five people in Gaza, including Hamas official Ali al-Amudi

With an air strike on an apartment in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the Israeli army targeted a high-ranking representative of the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas. The army confirmed media reports that she tried to kill Ali al-Amudi. It is being checked whether al-Amudi is injured or dead. According to civil defense and a hospital in the Gaza Strip, five people were killed in the attack.

The airstrike took place early in the morning and, according to the Jewish calendar, on the anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel three years ago.

The army has taken steps “to reduce harm to civilians, including the use of precision weapons,” the army added. She regrets “any harm caused to uninvolved people.”

The Israeli army killed Sinwar in the Gaza Strip in October 2024. Al-Amudi is considered the highest-ranking Hamas representative in the Gaza Strip. Hamas's top leader, Chalil al-Hajaa, lives in Qatar and acts for Hamas at the diplomatic level. In July, Hajaa agreed to a US plan to disarm Hamas. US President Donald Trump described this as a breakthrough, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the plan as insincere.

Dead and several injured

The Hamas-controlled Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip said four women were among those killed in the airstrike in the west of Gaza city. Several other people were injured.

Al-Shifa Hospital in the city of Gaza said it admitted five "martyrs" and several injured people at dawn. The dead are two women and their respective daughters and a young man. Two of the five victims were Christians. Her funeral took place in the small Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrius Church. In the Gaza Strip, around a thousand Christians live among the approximately two million inhabitants, most of whom are Orthodox.

According to the information, an apartment in the Rimal district was hit. Two rockets hit the apartment directly and started a fire, said civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal. The building was damaged.

Despite a ceasefire agreed in October last year, the Israeli army continues to attack targets in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 1,440 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire took effect. The Israeli army reported five soldiers and one civilian killed in its ranks during the same period.

The war was triggered by the attack by Hamas and its allies on Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 people as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive attacks on the Palestinian territory in which, according to Hamas, more than 74,000 people have since been killed.