From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 12, 2026
Report: Armed operatives killed by IDF were pursuing militiamen who assassinated senior Hamas cop
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleIsrael reportedly killed three Hamas operatives as they pursued Gaza militiamen who assassinated senior Hamas police officer Mahmoud al-Astal this morning in Mawasi, near Khan Younis in the Strip’s south.
UK-based, Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat cites Hamas field sources as saying the operatives were killed in an IDF drone strike close to the Gaza ceasefire line south of Khan Younis. After the strike, the anti-Hamas militiamen took the operatives’ weapons, the sources say.
Hossam al-Astal, a former Palestinian Authority security officer who leads an anti-Hamas militia near Khan Younis, has claimed responsibility for the assassination of the police officer. He made the claim in a video statement filmed in front of weapons and ammunition that he said were “spoils” of his militia’s fight against Hamas, including a semi-automatic rifle with a faint red stain that he asserted was “blood of Hamas pigs and dogs.”
Shortly after Hamas said an initial investigation found the police officer was murdered by “agents of the Israeli occupation,” Palestinian media reported that Israel had carried out a drone strike south of Khan Younis, on the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line.
Shortly after Hamas said an initial investigation found the police officer was murdered by “agents of the Israeli occupation,” Palestinian media reported that Israel had carried out a drone strike south of Khan Younis, on the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line. Later reports said the city’s Nasser Hospital received the bodies of three men killed in the attack.
The IDF said earlier this evening that the air force, guided by troops from the 188th Brigade, killed three armed operatives and “neutralized” a fourth after they approached troops, near the Yellow Line in the area of Khan Younis, in a manner that posed an “immediate threat.”
The military does not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Asharq al-Awsat report.
The Times of Israel Community.