Strikes on Gaza: Israel Says It Targeted Two Hamas Leaders

Two airstrikes were carried out in the Gaza Strip within less than 24 hours. The Israeli military said that two Hamas leaders were targeted in the operations, one of whom belonged to the movement’s elite forces.

On Monday, the Israeli military announced that it had targeted the commander of a company within Hamas’s elite unit in an airstrike.

According to the Israeli military, the individual targeted “participated in the attack carried out by Hamas against Israeli communities on October 7, 2023,” and “carried out attacks against Israeli forces” in the Gaza Strip.

The military did not disclose the identity of the person targeted or the precise location of the strike.

Earlier, the Israeli military said in a post on its X account, formerly known as Twitter, that it had targeted Ismail Aboufol on Sunday, describing him as a “weapons manufacturing commander” within Hamas.

According to the military, Aboufol, who was targeted in central Gaza, was involved in the “manufacturing of explosive devices and anti-tank missiles” for Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

On Sunday, Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told Agence France-Presse that his teams had transported three people killed, including a child, and around fourteen injured people to hospitals following several Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

Bassal said the victims were killed or wounded in an Israeli strike that targeted a fuel station in the town of Al-Zawaida in central Gaza. He also reported two additional deaths and ten injuries in two strikes targeting the nearby Nuseirat and Al-Maghazi refugee camps.

Since the Gaza ceasefire came into effect on October 10 last year, Israeli bombardments have killed at least 1,286 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has reported that five soldiers were killed during the same period.

In July, Hamas agreed to a U.S.-backed roadmap aimed at moving to the second phase of a peace plan. The plan calls for the disarmament of Hamas and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, more than 60% of which remains under Israeli control.

Israel has not yet agreed to the plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, is demanding the complete disarmament of Hamas before any Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.