Jerusalem:
The Israeli military said Thursday that three Hamas leaders were killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip three months ago. The military has been fighting Palestinian agents in the Gaza Strip for almost a year.
The military said the attack killed the head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Rawi Mushtaha, Hamas political bureau security chief Sameh al-Shirazi, and commander Sami Oudeh.
Approximately three months ago, a joint IDF and ISA attack in Gaza eliminated the following terrorists:
🔴Rawi Mushtaha, head of the Hamas government in Gaza
🔴Sameh al-Shirazi, who held the security portfolio in Hamas’s Politburo and Hamas’s Labor Committee
🔴Sami… pic.twitter.com/6xpH6tOOot— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 3, 2024
“Mr. Mushtaha was one of Hamas’s most senior operatives and directly influenced Hamas’ decisions regarding the deployment of troops,” the military said in a statement.
The military called Mushtaha the “right-hand man” of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
In 2015, the U.S. State Department designated Mushtaha a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”
The European Council on Foreign Relations described Mushtaha as a member of Hamas’ Gaza Politburo, where he also oversaw financial affairs.
ECFR said Mr. Siraj is a member of the Politburo and Mr. Oudeh is said to be the leader of the group’s internal security agency.
Israel’s military operation aimed at wiping out Hamas is believed to have left several leaders and thousands of fighters dead, greatly weakening the group, and reducing much of the territory it controls to rubble.
The Gaza war was sparked by a Hamas attack on October 7 that killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli statistics, including hostages killed in captivity.
At least 41,788 people have been killed in Israeli retaliatory military attacks in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run region’s health ministry. The United Nations says this figure is reliable.
“Mr. Mushtaha was one of Hamas’s most senior operatives and directly influenced Hamas’ decisions regarding the deployment of troops,” the military said in a statement.
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