Israel kills Hamas official in hospital, as Gaza death toll climbs
An Israeli air strike on a hospital in Gaza killed a senior Hamas leader and an aide on Sunday evening, a Hamas official told the BBC.
Ismail Barhoum, the group’s finance chief, was hit in Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis.
Barhoum is one of the most senior Hamas figures killed since Israel resumed military action against the group last Tuesday, ending a two-month ceasefire.
Hamas said Barhoum was being treated in Nasser Hospital for wounds suffered in an air strike four days ago.
But Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani said that was “completely false”. He said Barhoum was in the hospital “in order to commit acts of terrorism” and had been there for weeks.
The Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday morning that 730 people had been killed by Israel since then. It said at least 61 had been killed over the past day.
Meanwhile, a 75-year-old Israeli man was killed and a 20-year-old soldier was injured in what Israeli police said was a terror attack near Haifa on Monday.
They said the assailant rammed his vehicle into a bus stop, then stabbed and opened fire at people before being shot dead by officers.
The IDF said it carried out the attack on Barhoum after “an extensive intelligence-gathering process”, adding that “precise munitions” had been used to mitigate harm.
The health ministry said “many others”, including medical personnel, were injured in the air strike.
It said the department that was hit was evacuated after a large portion was destroyed.
Footage verified by the BBC showed people attempting to extinguish a fire after the strike.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals as hiding places for weapons and command centres, which the group denies.
Another Hamas leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, was killed by a separate Israeli air strike in Khan Younis earlier on Sunday, an official told the BBC.
Israel resumed its military campaign, blaming Hamas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the truce. Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of abandoning the original deal agreed in January.
The war was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
Israel responded to the 7 October attack with a military offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas, which has killed more than 50,000 people, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Additional reporting by Maia Davies
Update 24 March: The headline of this story was updated after Israel denied Ismail Barhoum was being treated in the hospital at the time of the strike.
