Israeli strike kills Hamas official; Gaza death toll passes 50,000

An Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, the resistance group said, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000.

Hamas said the airstrike on Khan Younis killed Bardaweel and his wife.

At least 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and 113,274 wounded since the beginning of the war, the health ministry said.

After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas.

Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas.

At least 30 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far Sunday, health authorities said. Bardaweel was a member of the Hamas decision-making body, the political office.

"His blood, that of his wife and martyrs, will remain fuelling the battle of liberation and independence," the group said.

Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement by refusing to begin negotiations for an end to the war and a withdrawal of its troops from Gaza. But Hamas has said it is still willing to negotiate and was studying "bridging" proposals from U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation warning on X for residents in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah in the south of the strip.

The military later said troops had encircled Tel Al-Sultan.

The Israeli military said that one of its divisions that had operated in Lebanon was preparing for possible activity in Gaza.

It said soldiers were allowing the evacuation of civilians from the combat zone via organised routes for their safety.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 50,000 residents remained trapped in Rafah after they were surprised by an Israeli army raid into their areas, warning their lives, and those of rescue teams, were at risk.

Palestinian and international officials also warned about the return of the risk of famine in the enclave.

"Every day without food inches Gaza closer to an acute hunger crisis. Banning aid is a collective punishment on Gaza: the vast majority of its population are children, women & ordinary men," the head of the United Nations agency on Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarin posted on X.