An Israeli airstrike on Saturday killed Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser al-Maqadma, the head of the Hamas-led police force in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry and local medics. Maqadma, who also served as the governor of northern Gaza, was struck in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood north of Gaza City.

In addition to Maqadma’s death, at least four other Palestinians were reported killed in separate Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on the same day. Medics confirmed that a Palestinian medic was killed in an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, while a police officer wounded by a previous Israeli strike succumbed to his injuries. Two people were also killed in a house in Khan Yunis, in the south of the enclave.

The Israeli military characterized Maqadma as a member of Hamas’s military wing, continuing a pattern of targeting senior officials they accuse of posing imminent security threats. Israel stated that the strike in Khan Yunis targeted a fighter associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. They did not immediately comment on the deaths of the medic or the police officer.

Relatives of Khaled al-Breim, a high school student killed later on Saturday in Khan Yunis, said he was struck while distributing sweets during a family gathering to celebrate his completion of high school and his plans to attend university. The Israeli military has not issued a statement regarding al-Breim’s death.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire agreement in October, which ended full-scale hostilities between Israel and Hamas, Gaza has witnessed regular Israeli strikes, with occasional retaliatory attacks by militants. The ongoing violence has resulted in the deaths of over 1,180 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials. Hamas, which controls Gaza, typically does not disclose its own casualties. Israeli casualties since the truce include four soldiers killed by militants in the area.

Hamas condemned the recent Israeli attacks on the police force and its headquarters, asserting that these actions aim to create chaos and undermine stability within Gaza, thereby breaching the terms of the truce. Efforts by mediators—including Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, and the United States—to revive US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for conflict resolution have yet to yield significant progress amid continued violence from both sides.