Palestinians watch smoke billowing following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel hit the UNRWA school in Nuseirat on June 6, which a Hamas official said killed 40 people. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, which was precipitated by the Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7 last year that killed around 1,200 people and the capture of more than 250 hostages. 

DEIR EL-BALAH, Palestinian Territories — A spokesman for the Nuseirat municipality in central Gaza said Friday that the town's mayor, Iyad al-Maghari, had been killed in an Israeli strike while visiting a water pumping station.

Maghari had been at the water management facility that serves Nuseirat when an air strike hit it at around 10:30 pm (1930 GMT) on Thursday, spokesman Muhammad al-Salhi told AFP at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, where mourners gathered ahead of the funeral.

"We were surprised by a treacherous and cowardly attack on the mayor inside the plant, which led to the martyrdom of the mayor, Dr Iyad Al-Maghari, and four members of his family," Salhi said.

The Israeli army told AFP on Friday that they plan to publish shortly a statement about the incident.

AFP journalists at the water station on Friday said the facility was in tatters, with concrete strewn about in piles, electrical equipment torn apart and blood stains on the ground.

READ: 'Why bomb us?': Gazans shocked after Israel hits UN school, killing 37

Workers were there to assess the damage to the large pipes that transport water to Nuseirat's residents.

One of the residents, Ibrahim al-Hur, told AFP: "We heard several explosions, and we were surprised that the explosions were right next to us, in the nearby water station."

"With just one missile, look what happened," he said, pointing to the demolished wall of the station behind him.

At the hospital, the mayor's body was wrapped in a white sheet adorned with a high-visibility vest, before it was loaded onto an ambulance on a stretcher.

The Nuseirat municipality said it mourned "its mayor, who chose to fulfil his duty with dedication and devotion to serve our people in Nuseirat until his last moments".

The Hamas-run government media office said in a statement that Maghari was "sincere and devoted to his work, serving his people and homeland".

The war broke out after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,731 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The violence has left much of Gaza in ruins, and an Israeli siege on the territory has led to dire shortages of clean water and other basic needs.

© Agence France-Presse

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