Israeli airstrike kills Hamas official as Gaza death toll passes 50,000

Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, the militant group said, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000.

After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas.

Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas in what witnesses said was an escalation of the attacks that began earlier in the week.

At least 30 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far on Sunday, health authorities said. Those killed included three municipal employees, medics said.

Hamas said the airstrike on Khan Younis killed Bardaweel and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

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Bardaweel was a member of the Hamas decision-making body, the political office, and had held posts such as heading the Hamas delegation for indirect truce talks with Israel in 2009 and led the group's media office in 2005.

«His blood, that of his wife and martyrs, will remain fuelling the battle of liberation and independence,» the group said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the main aim of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and governing entity.

He has said the aim of the new campaign is to force the group to give up remaining hostages. Israel launched its initial assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to