A senior Hamas official, Salah al-Bardaweel, was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, a Hamas official confirmed to the BBC early Sunday.
Local residents reported that Bardaweel, a prominent political leader of Hamas, and his wife were both killed in the strike.
Israeli authorities have not yet commented on the attack.
Earlier this week, Israel resumed heavy military operations against Gaza, ending the initial phase of a nearly two-month ceasefire. Israel accused Hamas of rejecting a new ceasefire proposal backed by the United States.
Hamas rejected these accusations, instead blaming Israel for violating the previous ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
According to health authorities in Gaza, at least 18 people have been killed in Khan Younis and southern Rafah since Sunday.
Hamas issued a statement saying Bardaweel and his wife were praying when their tent was struck by an Israeli missile.
Bardaweel was a former Hamas spokesman and frequently appeared in local media.
He is among ten senior Hamas officials reportedly killed since Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on Tuesday.
The intensified Israeli military operations began in response to Hamas-led attacks on the Israeli border, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 hostages were taken.
Since the escalation, over 49,500 Palestinians have died, and extensive damage has been inflicted on Gaza’s infrastructure and residential areas, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.
