At least 18 people, including the Hamas police chief and his deputy, as well as three children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian authorities.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people in the Gaza Strip, including two senior Hamas-led police officers and three children, Gaza Civil Defense said.
Among the victims were Major General Mahmoud Salah, the Hamas police chief in the Gaza Strip, and his deputy, Brigadier General Ali Al-Qassam.
The strike hit a tent early Thursday in Al-Mawasi, declared a humanitarian zone by Israel, west of the city of Khan Yunis, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have taken refuge.
Three children, three women and four men were killed according to the Nasser hospital which received the bodies, and 15 other people were injured.
Another strike killed at least eight Palestinian men in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday. The deceased were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israeli authorities have not commented.
The Hamas-led government in Gaza had tens of thousands of police officers responsible for maintaining order before the war broke out.
Police have largely disappeared from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law enforcement and hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid.
However, residents report that plainclothes Hamas men still patrol much of the territory.
The Islamist movement has not faced a significant internal challenge nearly fifteen months after the devastating war triggered by its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250 people that day. Around a hundred hostages are still being held inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities. They say that women and children represent more than half of the deaths.
