JERUSALEM, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet (ISA) said jointly on Thursday evening that their strikes across Gaza on Wednesday hit operatives from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), accusing them of "serious violation" of the October Gaza ceasefire deal.
They said the strikes were carried out after gunmen opened fire earlier this week on Israeli troops in western Rafah.
The announcement came amid reports that Mahmoud al-Huli, a senior commander in Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, was killed on Wednesday along with five others in an Israeli strike in central Gaza's city of Deir al-Balah, and that Ahraf al-Khatib, a commander in the PIJ's al-Quds Brigades, was killed on Wednesday along with his wife in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp.
On Thursday evening, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan confirmed al-Huli's death in a statement, condemning the Israeli strike as "a dangerous escalation."
The development came as all members of the newly-formed Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with administering Gaza arrived in Egypt on Thursday and began meetings in preparation for their entry into the enclave.
An ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, following two years of conflict. However, Gaza's health authorities said Friday that at least 463 people have been killed and 1,269 injured since the ceasefire began.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 71,455 Palestinians and wounded 171,347 others, while causing widespread destruction and worsening humanitarian conditions in the enclave, the authorities added. ■
