Israeli unmanned suicide drones kill senior Islamic Jihad militant in southern Gaza-Xinhua

Palestinians inspect a damaged building following an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 11, 2023. A senior official of a militant group in Gaza was killed early on Thursday when the Israeli army's unmanned suicide drones attacked his apartment in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

GAZA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of a militant group in Gaza was killed early on Thursday when the Israeli army's unmanned suicide drones attacked his apartment in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Palestinian security officials confirmed that Ali Hassan Ghali, a military council member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), was killed after two Israeli suicide drones attacked his apartment in a building north of the city.

The officials said that his brother Mahmoud Ghali and their nephew Mahmoud Mansour were also in the apartment and were killed in the drone attack.

Palestinian medics at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said that three Palestinians were brought dead to the hospital and 15 were injured after an apartment was bombed by Israeli fighting aircraft.

Al-Quds Brigades, the PIJ armed wing, said in a statement that it mourns the commander Ali Hassan Ghali, who is in charge of the rocket unit, adding that he "was martyred (killed) in a treacherous Zionist assassination operation in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip with another two."

On Tuesday predawn, Israeli unmanned drones and fighter jets carried out surprising and simultaneous airstrikes on several buildings, killing three senior members of the Al-Quds Brigades in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, efforts taken by the mediators Egypt, Qatar and the UN failed to reach a ceasefire between Israel and the PIJ to end the ongoing fighting, which had left 24 people killed and more than 70 injured.

Muhammad Al-Hindi, head of the PIJ political department, announced earlier that Israel's refusal to stop its targeted killing policy or assassinations against PIJ leaders was the reason for not reaching a truce agreement.

"The efforts to contain the current situation are going on, and it is still early to speak about reaching a truce agreement," he said in a press statement. ■

Relatives mourn during the funeral of Ali Hassan Ghali and his brother Mahmoud Ghali, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 11, 2023. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)