Hamas announced the deaths of at least five of its senior officials in the airstrike. Among those killed were Essam Addalees, de facto head of the Hamas govt, Ahmed Al-Hetta, deputy justice minister and Mahmoud Abu Watfa, head of the Hamas-run security services, and Bahjat Abu Sultan, director-general of internal security service.
A spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group was also killed. “Naji Abu Saif, spokesperson for AlQuds Brigades, known as Abu Hamza, and his wife, Shaima Abu Saif, were martyred in an Israeli airstrike,” an official said, referring to the spokesperson’s nom de guerre.