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An Israeli air strike at a Gaza hospital killed a senior Hamas leader and assistant on Sunday night, a Hamas official told the BBC.
Ismail Barhum, the head of the group’s financial affairs, was killed at the strike at Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility in Khan Eunice.
He received treatment at the hospital after being injured in an air strike four days ago, the employee said.
The Israeli military said he had hit a key member of Hamas working in the hospital compound after a “extensive intelligence collection process” and said that “precision ammunition” had been used to mitigate the harm.
The health ministry, managed by Hamas, said that “many others”, including medical staff, were injured.
The hospital ward strike has been evacuated after much has been destroyed, the ministry said.
Shots checked by the BBC showed that people were trying to extinguish fire after the strike.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals as hiding places for weapons and command centers that the group denies.
Another Hamas leader, Salah al-Bardauwell, was killed by a separate Israeli air strike in Khan Uninis on Sunday, an BBC official said.
At least 30 people were killed in Khan Eunice and Rafa Sunday morning, before the hospital at the evening, the health ministry said.
Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on March 18, ending with a ceasefire that lasted almost two months. Hundreds have been killed in strikes since.
Israel has accused Hamas of rejecting a new proposal in the United States to expand the ceasefire. Hamas, for his part, accused Israel of abandoning the original transaction agreed in January.
The war was caused by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed and 251 others took hostages.
Israel responded to the attack on October 7 with a military offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas, which killed more than 50,000 people, Hamas Health Ministry said.