The Israeli military has killed two senior Hamas officials in the past week, the Israeli military said on Thursday.
The IDF identified one as Hassan Abu Kuik, who is accused of carrying out numerous attacks on Israel. He led internal security operations for the Palestinian militant Hamas movement in the central Gaza Strip, the IDF said. The other was a team leader in Hamas’ military intelligence service, the army added.
Israeli forces continued operations at the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the Israeli military said.
Weapons were found there on Wednesday, the Israeli military said. The IDF accused members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) of using the UNRWA headquarters for terrorist purposes. The IDF information could not be independently verified.
Since the beginning of the war, UNRWA staff have not used the headquarters for normal work.
Separately, the IDF reported that rockets were fired into Israel in the morning from the Rafah area in the far south of the Gaza Strip, several of which were shot down by Israeli air defenses. The Israeli Air Force attacked and killed those responsible, the report said.
More than 38,000 people have been killed and more than 88,000 wounded in Gaza since the war, which broke out after attacks on Israel from the region on October 7, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities. The figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.