Palestinian militant group Hamas said an Israeli air strike on Thursday killed one of its spokesmen in Gaza the Israeli military accused of spreading “psychological terror” through social media.
The military said that “overnight, (the army and air force) conducted a strike in northern Gaza,” killing Abdul Latif al-Qanou.
It called Qanou “one of Hamas’ key inciters”, who used social media “for propaganda purposes, psychological terror,” and for “inciting terrorist activities” against Israel.
The military, which resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, added it would continue operations “to dismantle Hamas’s governmental and military capabilities”.
Hamas said earlier it mourned the loss of Qanou who was killed in what it called a “direct” strike on a tent he was in, in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.
A fragile ceasefire that brought weeks of relative calm to Gaza ended on March 18 when Israel resumed its bombing campaign across the territory.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 855 people have been killed since.
Qanou is the latest Hamas official to be killed in the resumed Israeli strikes.
Israel’s military said last week it had killed the head of Hamas’s internal security agency, Rashid Jahjouh, in an air strike.
Days earlier, Hamas had named the head of its government in the Gaza Strip, Essam al-Dalis, and interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa, among a list of officials it said were killed in strikes.
The Israeli military confirmed it had killed Dalis, a member of Hamas’s political bureau who became the head of its administration in Gaza in June 2021.
Hamas has also confirmed the deaths of Salah al-Bardawil and Yasser Harb, both members of its political bureau.
“The occupation’s targeting of the movement’s leaders and spokespersons will not break our will,” Hamas said.
By Agencies
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