From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 2, 2023
IDF: Strike kills Gazan terrorist responsible for attack that killed Oron Shaul in 2014
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military killed Wissam Farhat, the commander of Hamas’s Shejaiya battalion, in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip today.
“IDF troops are currently striking in the Gaza Strip, and are progressing with the stages of the fighting,” he says in an evening press conference.
Footage shows the strike on the commander of Hamas's Shujayya battalion, Wissam Farhat.https://t.co/KM31XvtKku pic.twitter.com/3wDLItvZW8
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 2, 2023
Hagari says Farhat was responsible for an attack on Golani troops in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya during the 2014 war. Seven soldiers were killed in the incident, known as the APC disaster, including Oron Shaul, whose remains have been held by Hamas since.
“Farhat planned and sent the terrorists on October 7, at Kibbutz Nahal Oz and army post, in the cruel massacre that was carried out,” Hagari says.
דובר צה"ל: חוסל מפקד גדוד שג'אעיה בחמאס – שהיה אחראי לאסון הנגמ"ש בצוק איתן, לחטיפת אורון שאול, ושילח מחבלים לנחל עוז ב-7 באוקטובר@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/ruUYmK2rx5
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) December 2, 2023
He says the ground offensive created pressure on Hamas to agree to release some of the hostages.
“We are determined to continue to fight, to dismantle Hamas, and to return all the hostages home,” Hagari adds.
