Four senior Hamas leaders killed including top commander in charge of northern Gaza for 18 years, terror group says
FOUR Hamas leaders have been killed including a top commander in charge of northern Gaza, the terror group has claimed.
In a Telegram post, the organisation confirmed the death of Ahmed Al Ghandour, a senior member of its military council who was in charge for 18 years.
In a statement, the military faction Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said Ghandour was killed during Israel's ground offensive in Gaza.
He had survived at least three Israeli attempts to kill him, going back to 2002, according to Washington-based Counter Extremism Project.
Other Hamas seniors who were killed were named Wael Rajab, Raf'at Salman and Ayman Siyam, according to the terror group.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "IDF aircraft under the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet and Amman have killed five senior commanders of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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"One of them was Ahmed Ahandor who served as the commander of the northern division of the Gaza Strip in the terrorist organization Hamas."
These top commanders were killed before the latest ceasefire, it has been understood.
The IDF had previously said it hit tunnels where Ahmed Ghandour and Ayman Siam were hiding.
The Israeli troops have targeted several of the listed individuals multiple times in the past 15 years.
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It comes after Omar Abu Jallah, another top Hamas commander, was wiped out in an Israeli air strike just hours before a four-day ceasefire began.
The IAF said Abu Jallah was a senior naval commander based in Khan Yunis, in the besieged Gaza Strip.
A statement from the force read: "The Air Force, guided by the intelligence of the Navy, AMN and Shin Bet, eliminated Amr Abu Jallah, the commander of the Hamas naval force in Khan Yunis, and another terrorist from the organisation's naval force.
"Omar Abu Jallah was a senior in the naval force, and was involved from the beginning of the fighting in sending a number of naval attacks that were foiled by our forces."
The IAF later posted a video saying its fighter jets struck a number of rocket launcher sites in Lebanon.
Last week, Israel raided several homes of Hamas leaders as they stepped up their ground offensive in Gaza.
The IDF said troops stormed the strip's upscale Rimal neighbourhood with airstrikes and destroyed a Hamas military camp in the area.
One of the dramatic videos released by the IDF shows Israeli troops raiding the homes of senior Hamas officials and engaging in hot gun fights.
Tanks were seen rolling through the ruined streets as Israel blasted unseen enemies in another clip.
The IDF said paratroopers found "35 tunnel entrances" in a statement as they continued to hunt down Hamas terrorists.
It also launched two new assaults in two Gaza neighbourhoods said to be Hamas "strongholds".
Footage released by the IDF showed troops engaged in intense gun battles as they entered Zeitoun and Jabalia with full force.
It comes after Hamas handed over 13 more hostages after an agonising delay on the second day of the latest truce deal.
Under the deal, Hamas has agreed to free at least 50 of the 240 hostages it snatched on October 7 over the coming days in exchange for 150 Palestinians being kept in Israeli prisons.
New photographs show a number of the hostages released from Gaza on Saturday, including nine-year-old Irish-Israeli Emily Hand, at the Rafah crossing where they were handed over by the Red Cross to Israeli authorities.
Emily had her ninth birthday while being held captive.
The other Israeli women and children released on Saturday are: Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam, siblings Alma and Noam Or, Hila Rotem, Shiri Weiss and her daughter Noga, Adi Shoham and children Yahel and Naveh, Maya Regev, and Shoshan Haran.
Twelve hostages were taken to Sheba Medical Centre and one, 21-year-old Maya Regev, to the nearer Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheba, as she was in need of urgent medical treatment.
Maya, who was released without her 18-year-old brother Itai, is now in stable condition, the Times of Israel reports.
The truce-for-hostages deal was reached after weeks of intense negotiations - with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators.
A total of 24 hostages were freed from Gaza during the first day of the truce, including 13 Israeli women and children, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino.
No British civilians were released.
More hostages are expected to be released over the coming days during the pause in fighting.
If the ceasefire holds, it will mark the first significant break in fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago.
Gaza has been relentlessly pummelled by Israel's airstrikes and ground operations in recent weeks.
Much of the northern part of the Strip has become a devastated warzone with ruined buildings, dwindling supplies, and horrific suffering for Gaza’s people.
By the Red Cross' estimates, some 1.5million civilians have been forced to flee south amid the Israeli onslaught from land, air and sea.
Figures for the death toll remain unverified - but Hamas’ health officials have claimed more than 11,000 civilians, including more than 4,500 children, have been killed.
Israel disputes these figures and US President Joe Biden said he had “no confidence” in them.
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Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israel had "not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties, but said the deaths must be blamed on Hamas, not Israel.
He insisted Israel's mission remains unchanged and its offensive will resume once the ceasefire period ends.
