Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, has been killed in an aerial assault in Gaza Metropolis, Israel has mentioned.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz congratulated the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) and Israel’s safety company, Shin Guess, for the “flawless execution” in a submit on X.
Hamas has not confirmed his dying. The Palestinian armed group earlier mentioned dozens of civilians had been killed and injured within the Israeli air strikes on a residential constructing within the district.
Native journalists reported that at the very least seven folks had been killed and 20 injured within the strikes on the densely populated al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza Metropolis, with kids among the many casualties.
Saturday’s assault comes amid ongoing aerial strikes on Gaza Metropolis forward of a deliberate Israeli offensive.
Katz warned on Sunday that many extra of Obeida’s “prison companions” can be focused with “the intensification of the marketing campaign in Gaza” – a reference to a lately authorised Israeli plan to grab management of Gaza Metropolis.
Individually, the IDF and Shin Guess supplied extra particulars about Saturday’s strikes that focused the Hamas spokesman.
They mentioned in a joint assertion that the operation had been “made doable as a result of prior intelligence gathered by [Shin Bet] and the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate” that had recognized his hiding place.
Obeida was among the many few remaining senior members of Hamas’s navy wing from earlier than its lethal 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel.
5 missiles struck the second and third ground of the six-storey condo within the al-Rimal neighbourhood constructing concurrently from two totally different instructions.
The flat that was focused had been used as a dentist’s surgical procedure. Witnesses reported seeing tons of of hundreds of {dollars} flying within the air after the strikes, with massive sums stolen by locals however later recovered by Hamas.
The joint assertion mentioned Obeida “served as the general public face of the Hamas terrorist group” and “disseminated Hamas’ propaganda”.
Over the previous few years, Obeida – believed to be about 40 years previous – delivered quite a few lengthy diatribes towards Israel on behalf of Hamas’s navy wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
All the time masked in a Palestinian scarf, he turned an idol to Hamas supporters all through the Center East.
In what could have been his last speech on Friday, Obeida mentioned the destiny of remaining Israeli hostages can be the identical as that of Hamas fighters, warning Israel towards its deliberate invasion of Gaza Metropolis.
Palestinians fled as smoke billowed over Gaza Metropolis following an Israeli air strike on Saturday [EPA]
Mohammed Emad, who runs a barbershop simply 100m (328ft) from the hit constructing in al-Rimal, informed the BBC that “the blasts had been terrifying – I could not transfer for greater than an hour”.
He added: “I can not consider I am nonetheless alive. I noticed injured kids with blood overlaying their faces, and other people had been operating in each course as if the world had ended.”
Footage verified by the BBC of the aftermath of the strikes reveals terrified residents fleeing into the streets.
Blood could be seen flowing from a physique coated by material, whereas an injured youngster is carried away by a person.
The IDF mentioned that previous to the assault “many steps had been taken to cut back the prospect of harming civilians, together with using precision weapons, aerial observations, and extra intelligence data”.
BBC Information has been unable to independently confirm the claims of both the IDF or Hamas.
In early August, Israel’s safety cupboard authorised a plan to grab management of Gaza Metropolis in a recent offensive, with the said goal of bringing the 22-month-long battle to an finish.
The UN has repeatedly warned {that a} full navy takeover would threat “catastrophic penalties” for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The UK’s ambassador to Israel has mentioned it could be “an enormous mistake”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Hamas and defied worldwide criticism of his plans to increase the battle.
Israel’s navy operation in Gaza started in response to the Hamas-led 7 October assault, by which about 1,200 folks had been killed and 251 others had been taken hostage. Since then, greater than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed, in line with the Hamas-run Gaza well being ministry.
Whereas the operation to seize Gaza Metropolis has but to start in earnest, Israeli assaults on the town – the place practically 1,000,000 folks reside – have been ongoing.
One native resident informed the BBC that the identical condo constructing struck on Saturday had already been hit in an earlier Israeli air raid months in the past.
The Israeli navy has mentioned it plans to evacuate Gaza Metropolis’s whole inhabitants and transfer it to shelters within the south earlier than troops transfer in. Most of Gaza’s inhabitants has already been displaced many instances in the course of the battle.
Greater than 90% of the town’s houses are estimated to be broken or destroyed, and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene methods have collapsed.
