Israel Says It Targeted Hamas Leader In Gaza With ‘Initial Indications’ Showing Successful Strike
Israel said on Friday it targeted Hamas leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad. A local official told local press “initial indications” showed that the strike was successful.
A senior official also told The Times Of Israel that the decision to target al-Haddad was made last week. Ever since, he was under “continuous” surveillance, with the strike being carried out “due to an operational opportunity with a high probability of successful elimination.”
The outlet added that al-Haddad is the most senior military commander from Hamas in Gaza and the last senior official involved in the planning of the October 7 attacks.
Medics in the enclave say at least 20 people were killed and 20 injured in an attack targeting an apartment and a vehicle. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were the ones targeting the Hamas official.
Local outlet Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz concluded he posed an obstacle to the disarmament of Hamas.
In fact, the a recent report detailed that the U.S.-led Board of Peace wants to begin its plan for the governance and reconstruction of Gaza in the areas that are not controlled by Hamas.
Negotiations to move forward with the plan have been deadlocked for weeks after the group, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., refused to disarm.
Axios detailed this week that the 20-point plan to achieve peace in the enclave contemplates a provision allowing the board to advance in areas not controlled by Hamas if a scenario like the current one takes place.
The outlet added that the U.S. has told Israel it does not support resuming the war to deal with the stalemate. Israel currently controls over half of Gaza.
Hamas, which was supposed to give up its heavy weapons and tunnel system in the first step of the agreement, said it won’t do it until Israel abides by its own obligation, including maintaining agreed-upon levels of humanitarian aid and stopping strikes in the enclave.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative, said the body wants to get the Palestinian technocratic government, which has been working in Cairo, to move into the parts of Gaza not controlled by Hamas. It also wants to begin reconstruction there and deploy an International Stabilization Force, as well as a new Palestinian police force that will be trained in Egypt. The technocratic government would later encourage Palestinians to move to the new areas, even though Hamas members has been trying to prevent that.
