An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians, including a senior police official, in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, in the first reported fatalities in more than a week as the Israeli military scaled back its targeted attacks in the enclave under US pressure.
Palestinian medics said the first strike targeted two people riding on a motorbike, in a western area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The other person was wounded, they added.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the Khan Younis airstrike targeted a Hamas commander planning an attack on its troops.
Later on Thursday, an Israeli drone launched three missiles against a vehicle driving in western Gaza City, killing the head of the Gaza City police force, and critically wounding two other people medics and witnesses said.
The Hamas-led interior ministry also confirmed in a statement the “assassination” by Israel of police colonel Jamal Abu Kmail.
