Israel Steps up Attacks on Gaza Police as Hamas Tightens Grip

Israel Intensifies Gaza Police Strikes Amid Hamas' Reinforced Grip and Ongoing Conflict

Escalation of Violence and Its Impact on Gaza's Police Force

CAIRO/GAZA, March 18 (Reuters) - Israel has killed nearly a dozen Gaza police officers this week as it steps up attacks on a Hamas-run force that the militants have used to re-establish governance in areas under their control, Gaza authorities say.

Hamas' nearly 10,000 police officers have emerged as a sticking point in talks to advance U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza. Hamas wants them included in a new police force envisioned under the plan. Israel rejects involvement of any officers with Hamas affiliations.

Trump's plan calls for the Islamist militant group to lay down its weapons and hand over governance to a committee of Palestinian technocrats who would manage Gaza's police as Israeli troops withdraw. Talks on disarming Hamas have been delayed by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Reuters has reported.

Hamas' Response to Targeted Police Strikes

Precautionary Measures and Operational Changes

HAMAS TAKES PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT POLICE AFTER ATTACKS

On the ground in Gaza, mostly unarmed officers dressed in navy police uniforms patrol the streets in the seafront sliver of Gaza where Hamas retained control under an October ceasefire following two years of war.

Officers could be seen directing traffic and patrolling markets and tent encampments in Gaza City on Monday.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Israel had killed more than 2,800 Gaza police officers since October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, triggering the war.

Dozens of officers have been killed since the ceasefire, including at least 10 since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Thawabta said.

To try to avoid more losses, he said, "operational orders and precautionary measures" had been issued "to reduce risks to police personnel, including reorganizing movements and deployments." He gave no further details.

Israeli Military Perspective

Israel says its attacks in Gaza that have struck and killed police officers have been aimed at eliminating threats to its troops from Hamas. Israeli troops remain deployed in the roughly 53% of Gaza under Israel's control.

In Israel's most recent attack, nine police officers were killed in an airstrike on a car in Zawayda in central Gaza on Sunday, Gaza medics said. The bombed-out remnants of the car, stained with blood, were left on the street, surrounded by destroyed buildings.

The Israeli military said it had struck an armed Hamas cell that it said was planning to carry out an attack on Israeli troops, and that six people were killed. Neither Hamas nor the military responded immediately to a request for comment on the discrepancy in the death figures.

Hamas accuses Israel of targeting police officers who it says are trying to maintain public security and stability in Gaza following the two-year war. Israel rejects this.

Strategic Implications of the Strikes

Disruption of Hamas' Security Operations

'STRIKES AIM TO DISRUPT HAMAS' SECURITY EFFORTS'

Palestinian political analyst Reham Owda said Israel's attacks on Gaza police highlighted Israeli concerns about Hamas tightening its grip on Gaza in areas under its control.

"These strikes aim to disrupt Hamas' security efforts in the territory and convey a clear message that Israel will not accept any expanded security role for Hamas within Gaza," Owda told Reuters.

Casualties and Ongoing Violence

Gaza's health ministry says at least 670 people have been killed by ‌Israeli fire ⁠since the October ceasefire. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike killed a local armed Hamas commander, Mohammad Abu Shahla, in Khan Younis in the south, Hamas and medics said, and overnight two men on a motorbike shot and wounded a senior Hamas police officer in Gaza City. Hamas blamed the attack on "Israeli collaborators."

Israel did not immediately comment on the incidents.

Impact on Gaza's Civilian Population

Abdallah Al-Araisha, a Palestinian living in a tent encampment in Gaza City, said the police had been helping to fight crime and protect people across Gaza, where most of the population of over 2 million is internally displaced.

"Without the police, we would be ruined," Araisha said.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Mahmoud Issa and Dawoud Abu Alkas in Gaza; Editing by Rami Ayyub and Timothy Heritage)