IDF says senior Hamas commander Rafa Salama killed in Israeli air strike

The Israeli military says senior Hamas commander Rafa Salama was killed in an air strike in Gaza on Saturday. Hamas has not confirmed the report.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that Israel’s strike hit a camp for displaced people in a designated humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, killing at least 90 Palestinians and injuring 289 others.

Israel has said the strike was targeting senior Hamas leaders, but Hamas says the claim is “false” and serves to “justify” the attack.

Eyewitnesses said they saw at least five “big warplanes bombing in the middle of Al Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis”.

Most of the injured were sent to the nearby Nasser hospital.

However, according to officials and medics, the facility is “no longer able to function” as doctors are “overwhelmed with large numbers of casualties”.

Speaking to Newshour on the BBC World Service, Dr Mohammed Abu Rayya, who is at a hospital dealing with the aftermath of the attack, said the majority of those injured were suffering from multiple shrapnel wounds.

He said it was like being in “hell”, adding that many of the casualties were civilians, notably women and children.

The Israeli army said Salama, a commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, was one of the “masterminds” of the 7 October attack and a close associate of Mohammed Deif, the top commander of Hamas’s military wing.

A military spokesman said Salama’s death “significantly impedes Hamas’ military capabilities”.

It is not known whether Deif was killed. The Israeli army said he was also targeted in the strike.

Deif has been among Israel’s most wanted men for decades and is blamed by Israeli authorities for the killings of multiple civilians and soldiers.

In a joint statement reporting Salama’s “elimination”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said Salama joined Hamas in the early 1990s and was appointed to the position of commander of the Khan Younis Brigade under the command of Mohammed Sinwar.

A Hamas official, cited by Reuters, called the attack a “grave escalation” that showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire negotiations being held in Qatar and Egypt ended on Friday without success, the BBC understands.