Hamas confirmed that Izz al-Din al-Beik, a commander of its armed wing in northern Gaza, was killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza City apartment. Israel said he was the target; hospital officials reported another death from the attack. The confirmation identifies the commander killed in the strike, while Israel’s claims about his role in earlier operations remain attributed to its military. The deaths add to casualties reported despite the ceasefire.
An Israeli strike hit an apartment in Gaza City’s Nasr neighbourhood early Tuesday and killed Izz al-Din al-Beik. Hamas confirmed that he commanded the northern Gaza brigade of its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was the target. Four Hamas sources in Gaza separately confirmed his death to Asharq Al-Awsat; its reporter was at the apartment after the strike.[1], [2]
Shifa Hospital said a second person injured in the strike later died. Medical officials also reported other wounded people, but their figures should remain attributed while the response continues. Al-Beik took the northern brigade command after Ahmed al-Ghandour, another Hamas commander, was killed. Israel says the new target was involved in planning attacks and recruiting fighters; that account of his earlier actions is an Israeli military claim. Israel’s accusations about his earlier operations remain military claims.[1]
The strike occurred while a US-backed ceasefire remained formally in place but violence continued in Gaza. Hamas says Israeli attacks undermine that arrangement. Later stages of the agreement still require decisions on disarmament, reconstruction and Israeli troop withdrawal. The Gaza Health Ministry has recorded deaths since the ceasefire began, but its cumulative count is not a final measure of this single strike. Tuesday’s specific development is the killing of a named northern commander; the sources establish no change in territorial control from his death.[1]
