
At Least 5 Senior Hamas Members Reportedly Killed During the Israeli Strikes
Israel targeted senior members of Hamas in its surprise attack on Gaza. According to Palestinian reports, at least five senior members of Hamas were killed including Mahmoud Abu Watfa Dir. General of the Hamas Interior Ministry who was in charge of the Hamas police force. He redeployed police forces charged with civilian obedience and order and was seen in a video last January vowing to rebuild the Strip and Hamas's rule.
Among the leaders who were killed were also two members of the Hamas political bureau, Issam Aldialis and Mohammad Al-Jmasi, the commander of internal security and the director-general of the Hamas Justice Ministry.
Further, the IDF and ISA reportedly struck and eliminated the terrorist Rashid Jahjuh, head of Hamas' General Security Forces, as well as the terrorist Ayman Atsalih, head of the Khan Yunis sector within Hamas' General Security Forces.
All of those senior officials, targeted by Israel played central roles in the rebuilding of Hamas rule over the Strip after the fighting stopped and the cease-fire came into effect.
In an additional strike, the IDF and ISA eliminated Ismail Abd al-Aal, a central terrorist in the Islamic Jihad's Weapons Smuggling Unit.
The aerial campaign was launched as a surprise attack after the military collected and identified hundreds of targets in the two months of truce and after over 20,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists had returned to positions across the Strip. (YNet/VFI News)