1/2/2025–|Last updated: 1/2/202511:47 AM (Mecca time)
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza announced that the Israeli army assassinated on Thursday the Director-General of Police, Major General Mahmoud Salah, and another senior officer in a raid on the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis, and the bombing left martyrs in other areas of the Strip.
The Ministry of Interior said – in a statement – that the occupation committed a heinous crime by assassinating the Director General of Police in the Gaza Strip, Major General Mahmoud Salah, and Major General Hossam Shahwan, a member of the Police Command Council, and added that it is determined to spread chaos in the Gaza Strip and deepen human suffering.
It added that the raid on Mawasi Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, also resulted in the death and injury of a number of citizens.
The martyrdom of Major General Mahmoud Salah, Commander of the Palestinian Police in the Gaza Strip, and Brigadier General Hossam Shahwan, Governor of Khan Yunis.
By God, the loss is very great. I am not exaggerating if I say that they are among the best people to give birth #GazaThey worked for years to establish the national police doctrine that protects the back of the resistance and protects the homeland and citizens, may God have mercy on them. pic.twitter.com/D7m55Q1PLY
– 🇵🇸 Adham Abu Salamiya (@AdhamPal922) January 2, 2025
The Interior Ministry statement stated that Major General Mahmoud Salah had served in the police since its founding 30 years ago, during which he worked to establish security in the Gaza Strip.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent reported that 10 Palestinians were martyred in the bombing of displaced persons’ tents in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis, and two people were martyred in the village of Bani Suhaila, south of Khan Yunis.
Palestinian media said that the tents were bombed while people were sleeping, noting that among the martyrs were 4 children and 3 women.
#photo | New scenes of massive destruction in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/eXSjmLm5Yf
– Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) January 2, 2025
Bombing and martyrs
Meanwhile, medical sources told Tel Aviv Tribune that 18 Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 12 of them in Khan Yunis.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent reported that 4 citizens were martyred in an Israeli air strike on Palestinians in the Beach Camp, west of Gaza City.
Two Palestinians were also killed by Israeli fire on Al-Shaaf Street, east of Gaza City.
In Jabalia al-Balad, north of the Gaza Strip, two other Palestinians were martyred in Israeli bombing of the area, according to an Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent.
Since last October 5, the northern regions of the Gaza Strip have been subjected to an Israeli attack, which resulted in the death of about 4,000 Palestinians and the displacement of tens of thousands.
The Israeli attack is focused on Jabalia camp, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has left more than 45,000 martyrs and 108,000 injured, while thousands are still under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Mahmoud Basal: The occupation prevents civil defense crews from performing their duties and threatens them with death pic.twitter.com/xvPkXOAaI6
– Tel Aviv Tribune Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) January 2, 2025
civil defense
On the other hand, Civil Defense spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Basal, said that the Israeli occupation forces prevent civil defense crews from performing their duties and threaten them with death.
Basal added in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune that the occupation forces arrested members of the Civil Defense, while others are still carrying out rescue missions despite the difficulties.
For his part, Director of Field Hospitals at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Marwan Al-Hams, said that 8 people, including 7 infants, died due to the severe cold.
Al-Hams added – in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune – that the situation in the entire Gaza Strip is very difficult, and that people are starving and dying due to the cold and the lack of treatment and medicine.
For days, the Gaza Strip has been exposed to a weather depression accompanied by heavy rains that flooded at least 1,500 tents. Temperatures also dropped significantly, which exacerbated the suffering of Palestinian families, especially those living in tents.