The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officially announced the elimination of a high-ranking commander from the Palestinian radical movement „Hamas“ Sharif al-Hasanat during a precision airstrike in the central Gaza Strip.
According to the official statement of the Israeli military command, Al-Hasanat held the position of company commander within the „Deir al-Balah“ battalion and was identified as an immediate threat to the security of Israeli soldiers and civilians in the area. The strike was carried out with precision munitions after long-term aerial surveillance by intelligence services with the aim of minimizing collateral damage.
The Israeli military wing stressed that the eliminated commander played a central role in organizing and operationally directing plans to rebuild the underground infrastructure of “Hamas“, better known as the network of strategic tunnels in Gaza. “Despite the ceasefire agreements in force, this terrorist was actively coordinating new attacks against our forces on the ground. He was eliminated in order to eliminate the real threat to the lives of our soldiers“, the army press center said in a statement.
The elimination of Sharif al-Hasanat is part of Tel Aviv's ongoing intensified campaign to target the middle command of “Hamas“, aimed at preventing the group's reorganization. Palestinian medical sources in the central part of the enclave confirmed that a drone strike was carried out on a residential building in the western outskirts of the city of Deir al-Balah, where there are dead and wounded, but the leadership of the Palestinian movement traditionally refrains from immediate comments on the exact number of losses among its fighters.