Gaza's Interior Ministry on Saturday accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian police commanders in a systematic campaign to undermine civil order and spread chaos across the besieged enclave, citing the targeted killing of North Gaza police chief Abdul Nasser Mohammed Al-Maqadma as the latest evidence of attacks on civilian security institutions protected under international humanitarian law.
The ministry announced earlier on Saturday that Al-Maqadma, 54, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northwestern Gaza City. In a subsequent statement issued in the wake of the attack, the ministry said the killing reflected Israel's continued targeting of the police force "with the aim of spreading chaos in the Gaza Strip." The ministry described the police as "a civilian institution protected under international law" that bears responsibility for maintaining public order and serving residents amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The ministry reported that 53 police commanders, officers and personnel have been killed in direct Israeli attacks on police headquarters, patrols, vehicles and personnel since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October last year. Al-Maqadma's killing came less than two weeks after an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp police station on July 14 killed seven police officers, including the station chief and his deputy, Yamen Mohammed Obeid, who died of his wounds on Saturday after sustaining critical injuries in the earlier bombardment. The ministry vowed that the police would continue carrying out their duties to protect civilians despite repeated attacks and called on the international community and mediating countries to intervene urgently to pressure Israel to halt the targeting of security forces.
Separately, the Israeli army carried out massive demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings in areas under its control east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to an Anadolu correspondent. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, 1,191 Palestinians have been killed and 3,853 others injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October. Israel has continued its military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 8, 2023, with Palestinian authorities reporting that the war has killed more than 73,000 people and wounded over 173,000 while causing widespread destruction to civilian infrastructure across the enclave.
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