Israel kills Hamas police chief and deputy

Gaza: Israel killed Hamas' chief of police and his deputy, among several others, the militant group said on Thursday. Also, there were children among the dead, The Times of Israel reported.

Hamas said that police chief Mahmoud Salah and his deputy Hussam Shahwan were killed in a strike in the al-Mawasi area, which is designated as a humanitarian zone by Israel itself. As per medical troops, the strike killed 11 people.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military confirmed the killing but claimed that the police chief was under the protection of civilian forces in the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis. The military claimed that Shahwan was responsible for violating the human rights of Gazan civilians, conducting violent interrogations as well as planning attacks against Israeli troops

Further, it claimed that it took steps to reduce the harm to civilians before carrying out the strike and accused Hamas of "cruelly exploiting civilian shelters, civilian buildings and the civilian population as human shields," the Times of Israel quoted.

In a statement, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry condemned the killing of the two police officers, saying "they were performing their humanitarian and national duty in serving our people."

Hamas' interior ministry condemned the killing of the two officers via a statement and said that they were performing their humanitarian and national duty in serving the Gazan people.

It said that the Israeli occupation continues to spread chaos in Gaza by carrying out the assassination. It increases the suffering of the citizens. The police force is a civil protection force that works to provide services to the citizens.