An Israeli airstrike has resulted in the death of the leader overseeing the Gaza side of the border crossing

On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike resulted in the death of Bassem Ghaben, the director of the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, as reported by Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip. Alongside Ghaben, three other individuals were killed when Israeli aircraft targeted the crossing’s infrastructure, according to both the crossings authority and the health ministry in the Hamas-governed Palestinian territory.

As of yet, there has been no immediate response from the Israeli army or COGAT (the defense ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs) to requests for comments from AFP.

In a recent development, Israel consented to the temporary reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing on Friday. This decision was made to facilitate direct aid delivery to Gaza, as opposed to routing it through the Rafah crossing from Egypt, after weeks of mounting pressure.

United Nations official Tor Wennesland acknowledged Israel’s limited steps to permit aid into Gaza as a positive move but emphasized that they are insufficient to tackle the severe humanitarian crisis in the region.

The U.N. has estimated that about 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced, raising significant concerns about the capacity of aid organizations to provide necessary assistance.

The conflict began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures, resulted in approximately 1,140 deaths, predominantly civilians, and the abduction of about 250 individuals.

As stated by the Hamas government’s media office on Wednesday, the Israeli response to this attack has led to the death of at least 20,000 people in the Palestinian territory, including 8,000 children and 6,200 women.