SAFA – Gaza's Ministry of Interior and National Security said Sunday that the director of the Internal Security Service in the central governorate, Col. Wael Al-Ladawi, and his aide, Maj. Ramez Abu Zureiq, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting their vehicle in Deir Al-Balah.

In a statement, the ministry said Al-Ladawi, 44, and Abu Zureiq, 49, were killed when Israeli warplanes struck their vehicle in the central Gaza city.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its crews transported the bodies of the two victims and evacuated seven wounded people to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after the strike targeted a vehicle in the Al-Baraka area, south of Deir Al-Balah.

The attack came as Israeli forces continued violations of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip for the 290th consecutive day. The agreement, reached through Arab and U.S. mediation in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh in October 2025, included provisions to end the Israeli aggression and allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, 1,200 Palestinians have been killed and 3,888 injured since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 11, 2025. The ministry added that 803 bodies have also been recovered during the same period.

The ministry said the overall death toll from Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 73,326 Palestinians killed and 173,997 injured.