Israel checking reports that Hamas’ military No 2 killed in Gaza strike

[Pelican Press 0]

******* checking reports that ******’ military No 2 ******* in Gaza strike

By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) – ******* was checking on Monday if ******’s second-highest military leader ***** in an air strike, media said, as talks stumbled to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza war to coincide with the ******* holy month of Ramadan.

If his ****** is confirmed, Marwan Issa would be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist militant movement taken out by ******* in the more than five-month war that has pulverised the ************ enclave and ******* thousands.

******** Army Radio said ******* had bombed the Al-Nusseirat camp in central Gaza on Saturday night, where it had intelligence about the location of Issa, second-in-command of ******’s military wing the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

The ******* ******* five people, the report said.

******** newspaper Haaretz reported that ******* was checking if the fatalities included Issa.

Neither the ******** military nor ****** officials immediately commented on the media reports.

On Sunday, in a statement rounding up operations from the previous 24 hours, ******* said its forces had ******* militants in central Gaza but did not mention the camp.

Issa is high on *******’s most wanted list, together with military wing head Mohammed Deif and ******’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, who are believed to have masterminded the Oct. 7 ******* that triggered the conflict.

Fighters from ******, which controls Gaza, ******* 1,200 people in a rampage into southern ******* and took 253 hostages, by ******** tallies. The ensuing war has claimed more than 31,000 ************ lives, according to Gaza’s authorities, as well as obliterating infrastructure and causing widespread hunger.

Issa’s ******, if confirmed, could also complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages, although ******* says talks are ongoing through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

*******’s intelligence agency Mossad said at the weekend that both sides were seeking to narrow gaps and reach agreements.

****** blames ******* for refusing to give guarantees to end the war and withdraw troops. ******* wants a temporary truce to allow an exchange of hostages, but has said it will not stop its war until it has defeated ******.

SIXTEEN **** IN HOUSE

Negotiators had wanted a halt in hostilities for Ramadan, which began on Monday.

But in the early hours, an ******** air strike on a house in Gaza City ******* 16 people and wounded several others, ************ health officials said.

The strike, around dawn in Zeitoun, one of Gaza City’s oldest neighbourhoods, hit the house of the Abu Shammala family, ******** those inside, according to medics. There was no immediate ******** comment on that strike.

In central Gaza, the ******** military said its forces had ******* around 15 militants in close combat and air strikes. Commandos in Khan Younis, where much of *******’s military operation has been focused in recent weeks, targeted sites it said were used by ****** militants, the military said.

******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting global pressure to protect civilians and reduce the suffering.

The conflict has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, with many cramped into makeshift tents in southern Rafah city, lacking food and basic medical supplies.

The ******* Nations estimates about a quarter of the population risk starvation and the trickle of aid is barely scratching the surface of daily needs. Aid agencies are now focusing their efforts on delivering aid via sea.

A government source in Cyprus said a vessel carrying some 200 tonnes of aid was scheduled to set sail on Monday, while the U.S. military said its General Frank S. Besson ship was also en route to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza by sea.

In his State of the Union address last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. would build a temporary seaport off the Gazan coast to facilitate more aid deliveries.

Senior ****** official Basem Naim said the water corridor was positive but urged the ******* States to work to end the war.

“Ensuring all the needs of the population in the Gaza Strip are met is not a favour from anyone. It is a guaranteed right under international humanitarian law even during times of war,” Naim told Reuters.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; writing by Sharon Singleton; editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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