Israel says senior Hamas member seized as strikes kill three during Gaza raid

Israel's defence minister says a senior member of the Palestinian armed group Hamas has been captured.

Israel Katz was speaking after reports of a raid by Israeli special forces and an Israel-backed Palestinian militia in Gaza City.

Israeli air strikes at the same time killed at least two children and a woman, local medics say.

A third child was killed in a separate incident in central Gaza.

The Israeli defence minister did not say who had captured the Hamas commander, whom he did not identify.

But after meeting Israelis living in Netiv HaAsara, next to northern Gaza, Katz said the activity of Israeli forces in the territory "continues at all times".

"A short time ago, a senior Hamas terrorist was arrested – and this is our policy: we do not wait for threats, but pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart them and destroy their terror infrastructures," he added.

Earlier, Palestinians in a crowded part of western Gaza City had reported a heavy Israeli bombardment, with two vehicles hit and turned to wreckage.

Videos captured chaotic scenes, with the sound of gunfire and the aftermath of strikes.

Reports say that Israeli special forces and pro-Israeli Palestinian militiamen had entered the area, but their presence was discovered. Some Israeli media suggest that only a local armed militia operated on the ground.

A Palestinian security source told the BBC the target of the Israeli operation was a senior official in the Hamas internal security service.

A spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run government media office, Ismail al-Thawabta, said: "An Israeli special forces unit attempted to carry out a security operation in Gaza City, but the unit was exposed while carrying out the mission."

The ensuing Israeli strikes "resulted in a number of people being killed and others injured, in addition to the deaths of several members of the special forces unit", he added.

The Israeli military has only confirmed striking several targets in Gaza "in order to remove threats" to its troops, adding that none of them were injured.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 73,460 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.