Head of Gaza militia claims responsibility for killing of senior Hamas cop

Hossam al-Astal, a former Palestinian Authority security officer who leads an anti-Hamas militia group that he says has Israel’s backing, claims responsibility for the killing of senior Hamas police officer Mahmoud al-Astal in nearby Mawasi this morning.

“We announce today the assassination of the head of investigations in Khan Younis,” the head of the group based near southern Gaza’s Khan Younis says in a video message posted to his Facebook page.

He threatens to to keep targeting Hamas officials and points to guns and ammunitions that he says are spoils of his militia’s battles. Pointing to a faint red stain on a semi-automatic rifle, he says, “this is blood of the Hamas dogs and pigs.”

أعلن حسام الأسطل، الضابط السابق في قوات الأمن التابعة للسلطة الفلسطينية، والذي يقود مجموعة مسلحة تنشط ضد حركة "حماس" في قطاع غزة، مسؤوليته عن اغتيال مدير مباحث شرطة خان يونس، وهو ضابط برتبة مقدّم يُدعى محمود أحمد الأسطل (40 عاما)، ويعد من أبرز قيادات الحركة في القطاع، وذلك قرب… pic.twitter.com/3GfEzEP3Ri

— Asharq News الشرق للأخبار (@AsharqNews) January 12, 2026

Hamas’s interior ministry announced this morning that the police officer was killed in a drive-by shooting from a car occupied by “agents of the Israeli occupation.”