Israel strike kills head of Gaza side of border crossing: Hamas

An Israeli strike killed the head of the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Thursday, Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip said.

Crossing director Bassem Ghaben and three other people were killed as Israeli aircraft targeted the infrastructure, the crossings authority and the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory said.

The Israeli army and COGAT, the defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, did not immediately respond to requests from AFP for comment.

After weeks of pressure, Israel approved the temporary reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing on Friday to enable aid to be delivered directly to Gaza, rather than through the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

United Nations official Tor Wennesland said Tuesday that Israel’s “limited” steps to allow aid into Gaza were “positive, but fall far short of what is needed to address the human catastrophe on the ground”.

The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced and concerns are growing about the ability of aid groups to help.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The Hamas government’s media office said Wednesday that Israel’s retaliatory assault had killed at least 20,000 people in the Palestinian territory, with 8,000 children and 6,200 women among the dead.