Gaza Interior Ministry Says Occupation Agents Killed Khan Yunis Police Chief
By Palestine Chronicle Staff
Gaza’s police chief in Khan Yunis, Lt. Col. Mahmoud Al-Astal, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Al-Mawasi, with Gaza’s Interior Ministry blaming occupation agents and opening an investigation into the assassination.
The Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced that the police chief of Khan Yunis, Lieutenant Colonel Mahmoud al-Astal, 40, was killed on Sunday after being shot by gunfire from a passing vehicle in the Al-Mawasi area, in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the ministry said the vehicle fled the scene immediately after the shooting.
It added that preliminary assessments indicate the killing was carried out by agents of the Israeli occupation.
Gaza’s security services have since opened an investigation and are continuing efforts to identify and pursue those responsible.
The Interior Ministry did not disclose further details regarding the circumstances of the assassination, the identities of the perpetrators, or the motives behind the killing, citing the ongoing investigation.
The killing of al-Astal follows a similar incident last month.
On December 14, Interior Ministry officer Ahmed Zamzam was shot dead in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
At the time, the ministry said its investigations pointed to the involvement of collaborators with Israel in Zamzam’s killing.
Gaza authorities have repeatedly warned of covert operations and targeted assassinations carried out through collaborators, particularly under conditions of siege and ongoing Israeli military aggression.
(PC, AJA, Arab Media)