Israeli airstrikes kill two Hamas ministers, Israeli forces say
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza Tuesday killed two Hamas ministers, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“An IDF aircraft tonight killed Jawad Abu Shamala, the Minister of Economy of the terrorist organization Hamas,” the IDF said in a written statement.
Zakaria Abu Ma’amr was also killed in another airstrike, the army said in a separate statement, in which he is described as one of the “senior members” of Hamas’ political bureau — the armed Palestinian group’s main governing body — and the “head of the Ministry of National Relations in the Policy Bureau of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel launched the offensive on Gaza, it said, as retaliation for Hamas’ attacks on Saturday which killed more than 900 people, including more than 100 soldiers. Israeli officials said between 100 and 150 people are being held hostage in Gaza.
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Since launching airstrikes inside the Hamas-led Palestinian territory two days ago, Israel killed more than 800 people and wounded 4,250 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities. Alongside the airstrikes on the densely populated territory, Israel’s defense minister called for a “complete siege” of Gaza, limiting all access to food, fuel and water to more than 2 million people.
“The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in Geneva on Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, a spokesperson for Israel’s army announced Gaza’s civilian parliament and ministries were considered legitimate targets.
Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and has been ruling in Gaza since 2007 after seizing control from the Western-backed and internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. Israel responded to Hamas’ takeover by limiting the movement of people in and out and putting a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza since 2007, controlling its borders.
The Palestinian Authority remains in charge of semi-autonomous parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.