GAZA: Authorities in the Gaza Strip on Saturday warned of a "complex humanitarian disaster" in the war-torn coastal region after rainstorms caused widespread flooding and at least 11 deaths so far.
The media office affiliated with Hamas also reported that 13 houses collapsed as a result of the torrential rainfall.
More than 53,000 tents were damaged, destroyed or washed away. Around 250,000 of the 1.5 million people living in tents or temporary shelters as a result of the Gaza war were affected, the office said. The information could not be independently verified.
More than two million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, which is approximately 41 kilometres long and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military struck a car in Gaza City on Saturday carrying senior Hamas commander Raed Saed, one of the architects of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, according to an Israeli defence official and Israeli media.
The strike killed four people, according to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics whether Saed was among the dead.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a senior Hamas commander in Gaza City, without giving a name or further details.
If Saed was killed, it would be the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a ceasefire deal came into effect in October.
The Israeli defence official described Saed as the head of Hamas' weapons manufacturing force.
Hamas sources have also described him as the second-in-command of the group's armed wing, after Izz eldeen Al Hadad.
Saed used to head Hamas' Gaza City battalion, one of the group's largest and best-equipped, those sources said. —Agencies
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