Israeli military says killed senior Hamas member in Gaza

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said on Saturday its forces had killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike in Gaza city, identifying him as a key figure in the group's military buildup and in the planning of the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the strike, carried out on Friday evening in the Sabra neighborhood, killed Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa. The operation was conducted in coordination with the Shin Bet domestic security agency.

The military described Al-Issa as a founding member of Hamas' military wing and said he played a "significant role in the planning and execution" of the Hamas assault on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, in which militants killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages back to Gaza.

In his most recent role, Al-Issa headed the combat support headquarters of Hamas' military wing, where he allegedly oversaw aerial and naval attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers. He was also involved in efforts to rebuild Hamas' operational infrastructure during the ongoing conflict, the statement said.

Al-Issa had previously led Hamas's training headquarters and served on its general security council. The military described him as one of the last remaining senior Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has not commented on Israel's claim.

Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. Since then, at least 6,089 Palestinians have been killed and 21,013 others injured, according to Gaza's health authorities on Saturday. That brings the total number of Palestinian fatalities since October 2023 to 56,412, with 133,054 others wounded.