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.

The Israeli military said it carried out an aerial strike in the Khan Yunis area against a Hamas commander it said had been planning attacks against Israeli troops. It said 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 in Khan Yunis 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 when asked about the Gaza City strike.

The strikes came a day after Israel carried out its first airstrike in Gaza since August 3. 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.