Hamas security chief captured in Gaza, Netanyahu says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces captured the head of Hamas's internal security apparatus in Gaza during a Tuesday ground operation in western Gaza City, where Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes killed four people.

Netanyahu did not give the target's name. Hamas's Interior Ministry in Gaza and Israeli media identified him as Muein al-Arabid.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet domestic security service said the man had recently worked to consolidate Hamas's control over northern Gaza and to advance attacks against Israeli troops. They said he was taken to Israel for questioning.

Netanyahu said the captured official had been involved with Israeli hostages previously held in Gaza, without giving details.

The Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said Israel abducted Arabid after he was wounded while engaging the Israeli force. It said his wife was killed and several of his children were injured.

A Gaza security source told AFP that Arabid was not involved in military operations against Israel or with Israeli hostages, and said his work involved overseeing efforts against alleged collaborators with Israel.

A Gaza security source told AFP the Israeli force included an Israeli-allied militia inside Gaza. Israeli media identified the group as the Abu Shabab militia.

The Israeli military said its air force struck several targets in the area to remove threats to its forces. Eyewitnesses described gunfire, drones and multiple strikes in western Gaza City.

Gaza's civil defence agency said three children and a woman were killed in the western Gaza City strikes. Al-Shifa Hospital confirmed that toll.

Hamas condemned the operation and said it contacted mediators and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the US-backed Board of Peace tasked with implementing an October ceasefire plan.

Separately, Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah said Israeli fire killed two people in central Gaza, including a girl. The civil defence confirmed that toll.

Despite the US-backed ceasefire, violence has continued in Gaza. Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations, says Israeli operations in Gaza have killed at least 1,326 people since the ceasefire took effect.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks and one civilian contractor killed over the same period.