IDF says half of Hamas military leadership are eliminated, around 14,000 terrorists killed or captured
Increasing signs that Deif was killed as IDF investigates signs Sinwar family member also present
Israel Defense Forces have been operating in the Gaza Strip for 263 days in order to achieve the war's objectives. During that time, they have eliminated a significant number of Hamas leaders and fighters.
On Tuesday evening, the IDF said its forces had eliminated and apprehended approximately 14,000 terrorists. Among those killed are several high-ranking officers from the military wing of the Hamas terror group, including six brigade commanders, over 20 battalion commanders and approximately 150 company commanders.
The IDF stated that “as a result of precise intelligence and operational efforts, half of the leadership of Hamas' military wing has been eliminated” so far, not including Mohammed Deif, whose death has still not been confirmed.
The military has struck approximately 37,000 targets from the air within the Gaza Strip, including more than 25,000 terror infrastructure and launch sites, according to the IDF.
Throughout the war, the Israeli forces have had the difficult job of locating terrorists who embed themselves and establishing bases in sensitive sites across the Gaza Strip, including in hospitals, schools and humanitarian shelters. Hamas, as a matter of strategy, uses the sites as hiding places and bases for terrorism knowing that Israel will be blamed for operating against civilian infrastructure.
In recent months, as IDF troops have eliminated Hamas commanders and destroyed several battalions, the terror group has increasingly placed command centers, weapons depots, and makeshift weapons manufacturing within civilian locations.
The IDF said strikes against this compromised infrastructure “are conducted in accordance with international law, with the purpose of preventing the restoration of terrorist organizations' capabilities.”
Meanwhile, reports indicate that IDF leadership increasingly believes Deif was killed in the airstrike on Saturday.
According to a report by Ben Caspit, a military and security correspondent for the Maariv news outlet, the IDF is certain that several of Deif’s bodyguards were at the site at the time of the strike, indicating that Deif was likely at the location, as well.
On Tuesday, Caspit also wrote that Israel is examining “preliminary information” according to which a member of Yahya Sinwar's family, possibly a brother, was also killed in the strike.
Hebrew news site N12 reported that a source in the Gaza Strip said that the hospital in Khan Younis, where bodies were taken after the strike, has become a Hamas fortress, with access tightly restricted by the terror group.
“The hospital in Khan Yunis and UNRWA schools have become Hamas shelter centers with masses of operatives operating from there,” the source said.
On Monday, IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari told Al Arabiya that “Rafa’a Salameh was killed. I confirm this to you. He and Deif were together. Hamas hides the fate of Deif. I tell you something else: Two weeks ago, we attacked other Hamas leaders in Gaza City, and Hamas is also hiding what happened to them.”
Hagari continued: “Anyone who took part in October 7, we will pursue him. Just as we did in Khan Younis against Salameh and Deif, we will do so against everyone responsible for October 7. If they want to stop the suffering they are causing the residents of Gaza, they must release the hostages.”
Hagari added that Hamas is responsible for preventing a ceasefire deal.
"Their stubbornness prevents reaching an agreement. If they stop their stubbornness, they will stop the suffering of the people of Gaza."
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
