A Senior Officer Killed in His Car.
Israel assassinated the head of the Gaza governorate’s police force, Colonel Jamal Abu Kumeil, in an airstrike that targeted his vehicle southwest of Gaza City, in a fresh violation of the ceasefire that has been in force since October. The strike killed the senior officer as he was traveling through the area, the latest in a string of Israeli assassinations that have continued uninterrupted despite the truce. Gaza’s Interior Ministry condemned the killing as a dangerous escalation targeting the civilian policing responsible for maintaining order in the Strip, warning that striking police officers risks sowing chaos and constitutes a clear breach of international law. It called on the international community and mediating states to intervene urgently to stop Israel from targeting police personnel.
Mediators Reportedly Conclude Netanyahu Is Sabotaging the Deal.
The assassination came despite mounting pressure on Israel from mediators, including the United States, to halt its attacks and let the ceasefire hold. US officials, among them presidential adviser Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff, have reportedly concluded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sabotaging the agreement, pointing to the continued assassinations and killings in Gaza as evidence that Israel is working to undermine rather than implement the deal. The killing also comes weeks after Palestinian factions accepted a roadmap to move into the second phase of the US-brokered plan, agreeing to place Gaza’s heavy weapons under the supervision of a Palestinian technocratic committee — a roadmap Israel rejected outright, with Netanyahu declaring Israeli forces would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed.
Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, Israel has killed more than 1,250 Palestinians and wounded over 4,100 others in continued violations of the truce, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, among them civilians, entire families, and police and civil defense personnel. The killing of Gaza’s police chief stands as one of the clearest signs that Israeli strikes are set to continue regardless of the agreement, even as Washington’s own mediators openly accuse Israel of undermining the very deal it helped broker.
