The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Thursday announced that a senior Hamas commander responsible for the group's anti-tank missile operations in the Gaza Strip has been eliminated.
The IDF said that Ibrahim Abu-Maghsib, the head of Hamas' anti-tank missile array in the so-called central camps brigade was eliminated by the military, with help from intelligence from the Shin Best and Aman.
“As part of his position, he directed and carried out numerous anti-tank missile launches directed at Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. The IDF said that Israeli Navy forces struck Hamas missile launch positions in Gaza earlier today.
Israeli forces capture key Hamas stronghold
Additionally, the IDF said that the troops in its Nahal Infantry Brigade captured a Hamas stronghold, known as outpost 17, in west Jabaliya after 10 hours of fighting, reported the Times of Israel. They killed both Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives, said the military.
Dozens of operatives were killed in the operation and many weapons and uncovered tunnel shafts, the IDF further added. Notably, at least 34 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ongoing ground operations against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday addressed a Gaza aid conference with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules.”
The number of Palestinians killed in the war passed 10,500, including more than 4,300 children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence and Israeli raids.
Who will rule post-war Gaza?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Israel will have "security responsibility' in Gaza for an indefinite period after the war against Hamas ends. This comes after the US opposed Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.
"I think Israel will for an indefinite period have security responsibility... We've seen what happens when we don't have that... security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn't imagine," Netanyahu told ABC News in an interview.
Although an end to the war seems to be out of sight, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that Israel is likely to maintain a military presence in Gaza for a “period of time” after the ongoing war, but it would be a “mistake” for Israel to re-occupy the territory.
“I think all of us can foresee a period of time after the conflict is over where Israeli forces will likely still be in Gaza and will have some initial security responsibilities,” Kirby told CNN.
Israeli officials had initially said that they were not interested in reoccupying the Strip, but Netanyahu’s comments led to concerns that he was laying the groundwork for just that.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority would only assume power in Gaza as part of a “comprehensive political solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Palestinians’ official WAFA news agency. He also condemned Israel’s bombardment of Gaza as a “genocidal war” and urged Blinken “to immediately stop them from committing such crimes.
(with agency inputs)
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