Hamas official: 50 of those killed in Gaza Monday were members

ifty of the Palestinians killed in a protest in the border region between the Gaza Strip and Israel earlier this week were Hamas members, Hamas Politburo member Salah Bardaweil said on Wednesday…

At least 61 Palestinians were killed on Monday, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

“The number I am telling you is official. Fifty martyrs from Hamas were martyred in this most recent battle,” he told Baladna, a Gaza-based TV station.

Bardaweil did not specify what role the people who he said were Hamas members had in the organization or whether any of them belonged to its armed wing, the Izzadin Kassam Brigades.

On Tuesday, the IDF said it and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) had identified 24 of the Palestinians killed on Monday as terrorists, mostly belonging to Hamas but also some who were members of Islamic Jihad.