Arab media reported that Wael al-Ladawi, known as “Abu Hamza,” was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

According to the reports, al-Ladawi headed Hamas’s internal security apparatus in central Gaza. Another senior Hamas Interior Ministry officer, Major Ramez Abu Zraiq, was also reportedly killed in the attack.

Sources in Gaza told the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that al-Ladawi had recently coordinated operations involving several Palestinian security bodies and terrorist organizations against Gazan militias cooperating with Israel.