Key facts
- Colonel Jamal Abu Kamil, head of Gaza City's police, was killed in an Israeli drone strike.
- Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser al-Maqadma, head of police in northern Gaza, was killed in a separate Israeli air strike.
- Gaza's Interior Ministry accuses Israel of deliberately targeting police to spread chaos.
- Hamas condemned the killings as an attempt to destabilize the enclave and violate the ceasefire.
- 53 police personnel have been killed since a ceasefire took effect in October 2025, according to Gaza's Interior Ministry.
- Over 1,180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since the October 2025 ceasefire.
Colonel Jamal Abu Kamil, the head of Gaza City's police force, was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Thursday, according to Gaza's Interior Ministry. Two other individuals were critically wounded in the same attack.
In a separate incident on Saturday, Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser al-Maqadma, who served as the head of the police force in northern Gaza and governor of northern Gaza, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City. The Israeli military claimed al-Maqadma was a member of Hamas's military wing.
Gaza's Interior Ministry condemned Israel's actions, stating that the targeting of police personnel is a deliberate strategy "with the aim of spreading chaos in the Gaza Strip." The ministry reported that 53 police commanders, officers, and personnel have been killed in direct Israeli attacks since a ceasefire agreement took effect in October 2025. They called for urgent international intervention to pressure Israel to cease these attacks, describing the police force as a civilian institution protected under international law.
Hamas echoed these accusations, stating that Israeli attacks on the police force are intended to destabilize the enclave and violate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The ministry also noted that since the ceasefire, Israeli attacks have resulted in the deaths of over 1,180 Palestinians, mostly civilians, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants.
These incidents occurred amidst a broader wave of Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, which resulted in multiple Palestinian casualties. A medic was killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp, two people died in a house in Khan Younis, and another individual, Khaled al-Breim, a recent high school graduate, was killed in Khan Younis. Suleiman Taysir Shammoud also died from injuries sustained in an earlier Israeli strike in Khan Younis. A policeman wounded the previous week also succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.
Mediators, including Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States, are reportedly working to advance a plan for ending the conflict, which includes Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawals, but progress has been limited.