The Hamas chief hostage negotiator has been killed in an airstrike on Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have announced.

Osama Mazini, the head of Hamas’s Shura Council, was “responsible for Hamas prisoners” according to the IDF statement.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, confirmed his death to The Telegraph, adding that his family were also killed in the strike.

Naim claimed that despite Mazini being known as Hamas’s chief hostage negotiator because of previous deals with the Israelis, he did not have any involvement in the current hostage situation.

Earlier, the IDF released video of another strike that it said killed the head of Hamas’s general intelligence service.