Hamas defiant after Israeli air strike kills another high profile figure in Gaza

An Israeli air strike has killed Abdel Latif al-Qanoua, a spokesperson for Hamas, in northern Gaza.

He was killed when his tent was targeted in Jabalia refugee camp at dawn on Thursday, Al-Aqsa television reported. Several others were wounded in the attack. 

The Palestinian movement confirmed the death and said that the attack would only strengthen its resistance. 

"The occupation's targeting of the movement's leaders and spokespeople will not break our will, but will only increase our determination to continue on the path of liberation," it said. 

Qanoua is the latest high profile Hamas figure to be killed since Israel resumed the war last week, in what appears to be a targeted assassination campaign. 

Earlier this week, Israel killed senior Hamas figures Salah al-Bardaweel and Ismail Barhoum. 

Both were members of Hamas' 20-member politburo. According to Hamas sources cited by Reuters, 11 members of the decision-making body have been killed by Israel since the war began in October 2023. 

At least 855 people have been killed, over half of whom are children and women, since Israel broke the ceasefire last week. 

Civilians targeted

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza killed at least 20 Palestinians overnight and into the morning on Thursday, with many more wounded, according to Al Jazeera.

Among the dead were at least two people who succumbed to their injuries after Israeli air strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced families in az-Zawayda, a town in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah governorate.

A Palestinian was also killed by injuries sustained in an Israeli air strike on a house in the Shujaiya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City. 

The overall death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has now reached 50,208, with 113,910 wounded since 7 October 2023.

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The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has averaged 103 per day since the war resumed last week, in addition to 223 injuries per day, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. 

In a scathing statement, the group accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, including those sheltering in tents and the rubble of their homes.

"Without any military justification, the Israeli occupation army has committed the crime of targeting homes - or what is left of them - every day, including targeting tents where civilians have sought safety following almost 18 months of genocide," it said.

"This is a clear component of a systematic Israeli policy that aims to kill Palestinians, ruin their lives, and impose a horrific reality that makes it impossible to survive."

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said it still has had no contact with nine of its crew members after Israeli forces targeted them in Rafah five days ago.

The workers were on their way to treat wounded people in Tel al-Sultan, where around 50,000 Palestinians were encircled by Israeli troops earlier this week. 

Soldiers refusing call-up

Haaretz reported that Israel's military is grappling with a growing crisis in its reserves as it prepares to intensify operations in Gaza. 

Tens of thousands of reservists are set to be called up, but a rising number are refusing to serve, citing exhaustion, frustration with government policies, and uncertainty over the war’s objectives.

A senior reservist commander told Haaretz that brigade and battalion leaders are dealing with numerous cases of troops refusing to report, with many blaming the government’s failure to secure the release of Israeli captives.

Others are protesting against plans to exempt ultra-Orthodox men from military service and concerns over judicial reforms. 

Military officials insist the reserves remain operationally capable, but cracks in morale are becoming harder to ignore.