Hamas officials told the BBC that Hamas political leader Sarah al-Baldawell said Israeli aviation strike in the southern city of Gaza killed Hamas political leader Sarah al-Baldawell.
Locals say they killed both Baldawell, considered Hamas’ highest political leader, and Baldawell, considered his wife. Israeli officials did not immediately comment.
The total death toll in Gaza, where the war exceeded 50,000 on Sunday, saw at least 30 people die in Khan Yunis and Rafa on Sunday, Hamas-run health officials said.
Israel resumed a fierce strike in Gaza earlier this week – actually ending the first phase of a ceasefire that lasted for almost two months. It denounced Hamas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the armistice.
Hamas accused Israel of abandoning original transactions mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The withdrawal of Israeli forces and subsequent release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were envisaged in addition to negotiations to end the war completely and rebuild Gaza.
In a statement Sunday, Hamas said 66-year-old Baldawell was praying with his wife when Israeli missiles struck the tent.
Baldawell, father of eight, was one of Hamas’ most prominent politicians.
Born in the Khan Eunice refugee camp, he is known to be approaching Hamas leader Yahya Singwar, and is considered part of the second generation of Hamas leaders, following the founder of the movement.
He led the political wing of Hamas parliamentary bloc and was re-elected to the group’s Politburo in 2021.
After the murder of Singwar and Rauhi Mushtah during the ongoing war, Baldawell was considered Hamas’ highest political leader.
The air attack that killed Baldawell was one of the most intense waves of air artillery fire in southern Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire agreement last Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Association said Israeli forces are surrounding some of the organised ambulances as Israeli forces attempted to reach areas hit by Israeli strikes in Rafa.
He added that several paramedics were injured and no contact with one of the trapped teams was lost.
Israeli forces issued evacuation orders to residents of the Ter al Sultan area of West Rafa after the region was hit by heavy artillery fire and limited ground attacks.
The attack included tank fires from Israeli forces located along the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt, and helicopters also took part in the attack.
In a voice message to the BBC, Ara Al Din Sabah, a neighbor resident, said:
“You can see one of the paramedics lying on the ground screaming.”
Israeli forces launched a campaign on October 7, 2023 to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack. Around 1,200 people were killed there and 251 were taken hostages.
Since then, more than 49,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, Hamasran Ministry of Health says, and there has been massive destruction in the homes and infrastructure within the strip.
