Dozens of Hamas operatives were eliminated on Thursday in several targeted attacks on Hamas compounds throughout the Gaza Strip.
The IDF destroyed the terror group’s central bank and internal security headquarters, as well as the home of a top Hamas commander. They also eliminated dozens in an attack on a Hamas intelligence complex.
Specifically, the deputy commander of Hamas’ Jabalya battalion who was in an apartment complex, was killed in the northern area of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF also targeted three other apartment complexes, housing the company commanders of the Sajaiya and Shabura battalions in the northern area of the Strip, and the company commander of the Deir el-Balah battalion in the center the Strip.
Caption: The expansive operation by the IDF to take out weapon warehouses in the Gaza Strip, May 11, 2021.
All these complexes were responsible for the launching of rockets during the recent escalations.The IDF later targeted the operational complex of the commander of Hamas’ UAV system, Samer Abu Daka. The same apartment was targeted during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The IDF also targeted a launch site for long-range missiles in the northern part of the Strip.
One target in the early morning attacks was the home of Iyad Tayib, a top Hamas commander who oversaw a number of battalions. The military also bombed a building that it said was being used as Hamas’s central bank, as well as a unit that the Israeli military said belonged to the terrorist group’s navy unit.
On Thursday afternoon, Abu Ubaida, spokesman of Hamas’s military wing the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, claimed that Hamas has launched “massive rocket strikes” larger than any launched on Israel since the 1948 War for Independence.
Palestinian media reported that around 83 people had been killed in the IDF strikes, including 17 children, and that more than 487 had been wounded. The Gaza Health Ministry claimed on Wednesday morning that 43% of the casualties were women and children, due to what it claimed were targeted attacks against civilians.
On Wednesday, Israel struck Hamas’s top military command, killing a number of its top operatives who were considered close to the head of the group’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a joint IDF-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation.
The dead men were identified as Bassem Issa, the head of the Gaza City brigade since 2017, and Jamaa Tahla, head of the group’s cyber network and missile improvement project. According to the Shin Bet, Tahla was the right-hand man of Deif and the central leader of the group’s efforts to improve its military capabilities.
Gamal Zabda, the head of the group’s development and projects department, who was the main player in Hamas’s rocket unit, was also killed. According to the Shin Bet, Zabda who held a PhD in mechanical engineering with a specialty in aerodynamics, was a significant source of knowledge for Hamas. Also killed was deputy chief of staff Khazem Khatib, who was head of the engineering department in Hamas’s production division.
Another 13 members of Hamas’ weapons manufacturing staff were also killed. They were named as Zaher a-Shahri, the head of Hamas’ R&D and production project, Mahmoud Fares a mechanics in the group’s R&D and production project, Majad Hadidi, control engineer, Akram Aleta, assistant to Bassem Issa, Hassan Aki and Kamal Krike both active in Hamas’s special units.Shortly after attacking Hamas’s military intelligence offices, the IDF eliminated two Hamas intelligence operatives who it said were responsible for rocket barrages into Israel: Hassan Kaogi, the head of Hamas’s military intelligence security wing, as well as his second-in-command, Wail Issa, the head of its intelligence counter-espionage wing.
The IDF eliminated three additional senior Hamas officials: Gaza Brigade commander Bassam Issa, Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafa Salama and Hamas intelligence chief Mohammed Yazouri.
On Tuesday, the military killed two top Islamic Jihad terrorists: Samah Abed al-Mamlouk, who was in charge of Islamic Jihad’s rocket arsenal.
In another strike, Hassan Abu al-Ata, deputy commander of Islamic Jihad’s Gaza Brigade, was also killed when the IDF struck an apartment in an eight-story building in Gaza’s Rimal neighborhood. He was the brother of Baha abu Al-Ata who was killed by Israel in 2019. Both brothers were known senior members of Islamic Jihad and were behind many of the group’s rocket attacks against Israel in recent years.
Earlier Tuesday, Hamas and the IDF expressed opposition to efforts by Egypt to mediate a ceasefire on Monday night and Tuesday, with terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip firing over 1,200 rockets and killing seven Israelis since the violence began on Monday.
Flames and smoke rise during Israeli air strikes amid a flare-up of Israel-Palestinian violence, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2021. (Credit: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
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