As the reporter stared into the camera, there was a sudden shriek through the air. Then a thumping explosion rang out accompanied by a fireball erupting from an upper storey of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel had struck another hospital – Gaza’s largest – only this time live on TV.

The controversy that ensued followed a predictable pattern: Israel claimed it had targeted a known Hamas operative who was cynically using the hospital as a base.

For its part, the Hamas-run health ministry said the man was undergoing surgery at the time and that the strike killed another patient, a 16-year-old boy, and injured many others.

The full facts may take a while to come out. However, the identity of the target is potentially more informative as a guide to Israel’s thinking in its renewed Gaza offensive than the location of the strike itself.

Ishmail Barhoum was not a Hamas military commander.

Instead, he was reported to be in charge of the organisation’s finances and, in effect, the head of civil administration in the Strip, the de facto prime minister.