Gaza Strip police chief Mahmoud Salah and his deputy Hussam Shahwan were killed in yesterday's Israeli strike on a tent camp in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in the enclave, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA, citing the Interior Ministry of "Hamas" - the radical Palestinian movement that controls the coastal territory.
Earlier yesterday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that two senior police officers in Gaza had been killed, but did not mention their names. Fighter jets struck a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, killing at least 11 people, the agencies reported yesterday.
The Hamas Interior Ministry said that Salah and Shahwan, who led Hamas' security forces, were checking on the residents of the tent camp when the Israeli strike was carried out. The Health Ministry in Gaza, meanwhile, announced that according to the latest information received, the number of victims in the coastal territory after the attacks by Israeli forces yesterday is already 68.
The Israeli army announced that it had attacked and destroyed rocket launchers at a military base of the Lebanese Shiite group "Hezbollah" in southern Lebanon, Reuters also reported.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) statement said that a request had been sent to the Lebanese army to destroy the installations before the strike and that the installations in question were attacked by Israeli forces only after there was no action from the Lebanese side.
The "Hezbollah" installations were for launching medium-range missiles, DPA said.
Both agencies noted that they had not yet received a comment on the case from the Lebanese army. There are no reports of civilian casualties.
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and the pro-Iranian group "Hezbollah" has been in effect for a month and a half, but it is unstable, DPA points out, recalling that under this agreement, units of the Israeli ground forces that entered the territory of Lebanon are obliged to gradually withdraw.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a delegation to renew negotiations in the capital of Qatar - Doha, on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA, citing a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.
So far, Israel and the radical Palestinian group "Hamas" accused each other of delaying the negotiations, AFP recalls.
Netanyahu has "authorized a delegation composed of officers from "Mossad" (Israeli foreign intelligence - ed. note), "Shin Bet" (internal security agency) and the army to continue the talks in Doha", his office said in a statement quoted by Agence France-Presse.
The mediators in the talks for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by "Hamas" are Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
AFP adds that a delegation from "Hamas" has arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo to "prepare for talks in Doha" in the coming days.
Netanyahu, who was discharged from the hospital less than 48 hours after undergoing prostate surgery, attended a parliamentary session in the Knesset yesterday.