Israeli air strike kills top Hamas official in Gaza

Salah al-Bardaweel and his wife died in the southern city of Khan Younis, a Hamas source told the BBC.

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Locals say the air strike killed both Bardaweel, regarded as Hamas's highest-ranking political leader, and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

The total death toll in Gaza since the war began surpassed 50,000 on Sunday, its Hamas-run health authorities said, with least 30 people killed in Khan Yunis and Rafah so far on Sunday.

Israel resumed heavy strikes on Gaza earlier this week - in effect ending the first phase of a ceasefire that lasted almost two months. It blamed Hamas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the truce.

Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of abandoning the original deal - mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US. It envisaged the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the subsequent release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners - in addition to negotiations to end the war entirely and reconstruct Gaza.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5zxe5l58go

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