The Israeli army said it had killed a commander of the military wing of “Hamas“ in an airstrike in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The military said the target of the strike was Ihab Jamil Abu Takiya, a commander of a combat group in the organization.
The strike was carried out on October 29 and information about it was published a day later. The Israeli army claims that Abu Takiya was involved in the capture of numerous hostages at the start of the war. The list includes Noah Argamani, Emily Hand, Ohad Ben Ami, Andrei Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jean, Maxim Harkin, Yosef Haim Ohana, Segev Kalfon, as well as Alexander Lobanov, whose body was returned to Israel.
The same strike, according to the Israeli military, also killed Ibrahim Jihad Mohammed Abu Oshaiba, described as a platoon commander in the military wing of “Hamas“. The Israeli military did not report any civilian casualties or injuries in the attack. The claims about the identities and roles of the two have not been independently confirmed.
Israel: They were preparing new attacks
In a statement, the Israeli army said the two were preparing attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, and that they were working to restore the military capabilities of “Hamas“.
“They were advancing attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and working to restore the military capabilities of “Hamas“, which constitutes a systematic violation of the ceasefire,“ the Israeli army said.The military said that precision munitions and aerial surveillance were used before the strike to limit the risk to the civilian population. The Israeli army also said that its Southern Command units remain deployed in the Gaza Strip under the ceasefire agreement and will continue their actions against immediate threats.
The Israeli military announced the operation amid continued accusations of ceasefire violations. Separately, the army reported strikes on weapons depots in the Bureij area and in Gaza City, as well as other operations against “Hamas“ fighters in the southern part of the enclave.
Sources: timesofisrael.com, jpost.com, ynetnews.com