Israel Says Struck Hamas Sniper, Brother Rejects 'Pure Fabrication'

The Israeli military said Sunday it had killed a Hamas sniper in a strike the day before, but a senior Gaza doctor who is the man's brother rejected the claim, saying his sibling was visually impaired.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital, had been working in the emergency department on Saturday when his brother and sister-in-law's bodies were brought in, telling AFP at the time that they were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City.

The military did not comment on Saturday, but on Sunday it said it had killed Majed Abu Salmiya, describing him as a Hamas sharpshooter.

"The IDF (Israeli military) struck and eliminated Majed Abu Salmiya, a terrorist in Hamas' military wing," it said in a statement.

"As part of his role, Abu Salmiya operated as a sniper for Hamas and was preparing to carry out an imminent terror attack against IDF troops in the Gaza City area."

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, however, rejected the military's accusation as "a lie, slander and an unacceptable justification for targeting civilians with direct missile strikes".

"My brother is a 57-year-old man who suffers from several illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and he has severe vision impairment - and they claim he was a sniper? This is pure fabrication," he told AFP, noting his brother's family had been displaced several times since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya told AFP on Saturday that the sight of his brother and sister-in-law's bodies being delivered to the hospital while he was on duty left him "shocked and devastated".

In recent weeks, the Israeli military has launched a heavy air and ground assault on Gaza City, an effort it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas fighters from the territory's largest urban hub.

On Sunday, at least six people were killed in Israeli strikes since dawn, Gaza's civil defence agency reported.

On Saturday, nearly 90 people were killed across the territory, most of them in Gaza City.

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