The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 41,788, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement released on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 99 people and wounded 169 others in Gaza, bringing the total number of deaths to 41,788 and injuries to 96,794 since the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, according to the statement.
Israel's military announced on Thursday that Rawhi Mushtaha, head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, was killed in a bombing in the Palestinian enclave about three months ago.
The military said that Mushtaha was the "right-hand man and one of the closest associates" of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, and was considered the most senior figure in the Hamas political bureau.
Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio in Hamas's political bureau and Labor Committee, and Sami Oudeh, commander of Hamas's General Security Mechanism, were also killed, it said.
Israeli warplanes struck and killed the three while they were taking shelter in "a fortified and equipped underground compound in the northern Gaza Strip," it added.
Hamas has not confirmed the deaths of the three officials.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 41,788
