The Israeli army has killed half of Hamas’ battalion commanders since the war in Gaza began — including one caught on horrifying video roaming the terror group’s network of tunnels before his death, Israel said on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his country’s goal of eliminating Hamas while speaking to reporters – and claimed that the terror group has lost about a dozen leaders from its estimated 24 battalions fighting in Gaza, the Times of Israel reported.
“We are settling accounts with all those who kidnapped, took part in, killed, slaughtered, raped and burned the daughters of our people,” Netanyahu said. “We will never forget, and we will never forgive.”
The prime minister’s comments came as the Israel Defense Forces and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency revealed that at least five Hamas leaders were killed in recent airstrikes in northern Gaza.
Five Hamas leaders, including the commander of the group’s northern battalion and his deputy, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. IDF Wael Rajab, deputy commander of Hamas’s northern brigade, was filmed walking through Gaza’s tunnel system before his death. IDF
Documents and photographs seized from Hamas revealed that the tunnel destroyed by the missile attack housed five top officials, including Ahmed Jandor, the commander of Hamas’s northern brigade, and his deputy, Wael Rajab.
Jandor and Rajab, who heads Hamas’s second-largest brigade, can be seen in a photo taken several months ago enjoying food and meeting with several other Hamas leaders in a cramped room inside a tunnel.
The IDF said Jandor was “responsible for the command and management of all Hamas terrorist activities in the northern Gaza Strip.”
A video seized from Hamas and released by the IDF on Tuesday also shows Rajab walking through one of the corridors of Hamas’ 300-mile network of underground tunnels.
Netanyahu said that half of the battalion commanders in Gaza have been killed since the war began. GPO
Rajab was seen walking silently with the members in the narrow and curved corridor with a flashlight in hand and a serious face.
Along with Jandor and Rajab, the airstrike killed the head of the brigade’s relief battalion, the head of an army formation and the officer responsible for observation in the north, Israel said.
The IDF stated that the operation that killed the northern leader was repeated to kill six other top officials across Gaza, including battalion commanders in Beit Lahia, Jabaliya, Sabra, Shati, Darj Tapah and Shejaiya.
Israel continues its advance across Gaza with the goal of becoming the sole force leading the demilitarization of the territory. Xinhua/Shutterstock
With the Israeli army expanding its military operations throughout Gaza, Netanyahu declared that the IDF should retain control over Gaza’s disarmament when the war ends, as it is the only force capable of doing so.
“No international power can be responsible for that,” he said. “We see what happens in other places where international forces are brought in for the purpose of disarmament.”
It is not the first time the prime minister has touted his country as the one in sole charge of the peacekeeping effort in Gaza, telling ABC News last month that Israel should have an extended hold on Gaza for an “indefinite period”.
Netanyahu reiterated Tuesday that Israel would not accept any other arrangement that would see another foreign power lead the demilitarization of Gaza.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
