Israel Strikes Gaza, Senior Hamas Security Official Killed

An Israeli air strike on Sunday (26 July 2026) killed a senior official of the internal security service run by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, along with one of his colleagues.

The two were targeted whilst travelling in a vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, according to medics and local police officials.

Quoting Reuters on Sunday (26 July 2026), the victims were identified as Colonel Wael El-Ledawi, head of Hamas’s internal security service in central Gaza, and Major Ramez Abu Zraiq. The information was provided by medics and the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior.

The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out a strike against a Hamas member, but gave no further details about the target of the operation.

In recent months, Israel has killed dozens of members of the Hamas-led police force, including senior officials, accusing many of them of belonging to Hamas’s armed wing and posing a direct threat to Israel and its forces inside Gaza.

Hamas said Israel’s strikes against the police force and its headquarters were aimed at sowing chaos and anarchy in the territory and violated the October ceasefire mediated by the United States between Israel and Hamas.

The latest deaths bring the toll to more than 1,190 Palestinians, most of them civilians, killed by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza health officials.

Although the ceasefire halted full-scale fighting, it has not ended near-daily Israeli attacks. Four Israeli soldiers have been reported killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

Israel effectively controls around 64% of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by two years of Israeli military operations following Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Almost all of Gaza’s 2 million residents now live on a narrow strip of coastline, mostly in emergency tents or damaged buildings, facing dire conditions.