Israel kills Hamas commander Izz al-Din al-Beik in Gaza City strike
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City have killed Izz al-Din al-Beik, whom Palestinian sources and Israeli officials described as the head of Hamas's armed wing in northern Gaza. The strike hit an apartment building in the city's Nasr neighbourhood early on Tuesday, according to medics and Hamas sources. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the military had killed al-Beik.
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Hamas also confirmed his death. The reports said al-Beik was killed in an air attack on a residential building, and that another person later died from wounds sustained in the same strike. Israeli officials said he had been involved in planning attacks and recruiting militants.
Palestinian medics said the attack took place around dawn, adding to the toll from a renewed wave of strikes in the enclave. The killing is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Hamas figures in Gaza. Israeli officials said the military has killed at least 20 Hamas figures this month, including people it identified as senior commanders and others linked to the 7 October 2023 attacks or the holding of Israeli hostages.
Hamas has denied trying to rebuild its arsenal or carry out attacks, and has accused Israel of undermining the ceasefire arrangement. The strike also comes against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire process that has yet to produce agreement on the next phase of the deal. Under the US-brokered arrangement agreed last year, the eventual reconstruction of Gaza was meant to follow, but negotiators have not reached terms on Hamas disarmament or an Israeli troop withdrawal.
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Israeli airstrikes have continued despite the ceasefire, and the latest killing is likely to deepen tensions around those stalled talks. Al-Beik had reportedly taken command of the Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza during the war, after the death of senior commander Ahmed al-Ghandour. That detail places him among the more senior Hamas military figures targeted since the conflict escalated after the 7 October 2023 attacks in southern Israel.
The latest strike therefore carries both operational and symbolic weight for Israel's campaign against Hamas's military structure. The broader conflict has already produced heavy losses and repeated strikes across Gaza, with health officials in the territory saying more than 73,000 people have been killed since the war began. Israeli officials say Hamas has continued to rearm and launch attacks in violation of the ceasefire, while Palestinian authorities say Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,400 people in Gaza since the truce took effect.
The competing claims underline how contested the security situation remains, even as diplomatic efforts continue. What remains unclear is whether the killing of al-Beik will lead to further retaliation or affect the pace of negotiations over the ceasefire's next stage. It is also not yet clear how much operational disruption Hamas's northern Gaza command has suffered beyond the loss of this senior figure.
The immediate focus will be on whether the strikes continue and whether mediators can keep the ceasefire process from collapsing further.
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