The Israeli military said a senior Hamas commander was killed in an airstrike in Gaza on Saturday.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Khan Younis brigade commander Rafael Salama was killed in the attack.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Salama was one of the “planners” of the October 7 attack and a close associate of Mohammed Deif, the top commander of Hamas’s military wing.
The Israel Defense Forces said Salama’s death “severely hinders Hamas’s military capabilities”.
Israel said the attack targeted senior Hamas leaders, but Hamas said the claim was “false” and meant to “justify” the attack.
The health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Saturday that an Israeli attack on the Khan Younis camp for displaced persons killed at least 90 Palestinians and injured 289 others.
It was unclear whether Deif was killed. The Israel Defense Forces said he was also a target of the attack.
Deif has been one of Israel’s most wanted fugitives for decades, with Israeli authorities accusing him of killing numerous civilians and soldiers.
In a joint statement reporting on Salama’s “annihilation”, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said Salama joined Hamas in the early 1990s and was appointed to the post of Khan under the command of Mohammad Sinwar. Commander of the Eunice Brigade.
Residents said they witnessed at least five “large warplanes carrying out bombardments in the center of the Mawasi region, west of Khan Younis.”
Most of the injured were taken to Al-Nasser Hospital.
However, the facility is “no longer operational” because doctors are “overwhelmed by the high number of casualties,” according to officials and medical staff.
Dr Mohammed Abu Rhea, who was at a hospital dealing with the aftermath of the attack, told BBC News International that most of the injured had suffered multiple shrapnel wounds.
It was like being in “hell”, he said, adding that many of the casualties were civilians, especially women and children.
Reuters quoted a Hamas official as saying the attack was a “serious escalation” that showed Israel was not interested in reaching a ceasefire.
The BBC understands ceasefire talks between Qatar and Egypt ended on Friday without success.
