Gaza strikes kill two including police governor, officials say

Palestinian health and rescue officials said Israeli strikes in Gaza killed two people on Thursday, including Gaza City's police governor Jamal Abu Kamil, in a second straight day of bombardment after a lull linked to a US peace push.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas commander in the Khan Yunis area who it said had been planning attacks against Israeli troops. It said the aerial strike was carried out to remove a threat and that steps were taken to reduce harm to civilians.

Gaza's civil defence agency, a rescue service under Hamas, said an airstrike west of Khan Yunis killed one person. Nasser Hospital confirmed receiving a body after the attack.

In Gaza City, the civil defence agency said one person was killed and several others were injured in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the Sheikh Ajlin neighbourhood. Al-Shifa Hospital said it received Abu Kamil's body. Gaza's interior ministry said Abu Kamil was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike targeting his vehicle on Al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it was checking the reports.

Hamas condemned Abu Kamil's killing, calling it a further escalation of Israel's crimes, and called on mediating countries to force Israel to halt what it called violations of the ceasefire.

Israel carried out its first Gaza airstrike since August 3 on Wednesday. The lull followed US President Donald Trump's announcement of what he called a major milestone in his plan to end the war.

Hamas had announced that it would disarm by handing its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee. Trump's Board of Peace, which is responsible for implementing the ceasefire deal, had initially announced that Israel would begin a phased withdrawal from much of Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the deal on Sunday and vowed there would be no Israeli pullout, even after the board reassured him that Israel would not have to withdraw until Hamas was completely disarmed.

Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, says Israeli operations in Gaza have killed 1,260 Palestinians since the ceasefire. The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.