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Israel assassinated 5 Hamas leaders in a tunnel under Gaza City — Arab media report

2 August 2024, 5:53 pm 43 Edit
Explosions spread along the underground complex as the IDF blows up a tunnel network in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, in footage released on November 19, 2023. (Kan TV screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Explosions spread along the underground complex as the IDF blows up a tunnel network in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, in footage released on November 19, 2023. (Kan TV screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Israel recently assassinated two Hamas politburo leaders and three military commanders in a tunnel under Gaza City, according to sources from the terror group quoted by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

According to the report, the IDF strike killed Hamas political leaders Rawhi Mushtaha and Sameh al-Siraj along with three commanders from the group’s military wing, the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades; Abdul Hadi Siam, Sami Odeh and Muhammad Hadid.

Mushtaha has served as de facto prime minister of the Gaza Strip and is in charge of financial affairs within the Hamas politburo. He reportedly helped establish the Hamas military wing and was arrested by Israel in 1988 before being released in 2011 as part of the Shalit prisoner swap.

He is said to be a close confidant of Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar and is seen as one of the terror group’s most hawkish members.

Siraj has served in the Hamas politburo since 2021 and is also in charge of internal security within the Strip. He reportedly headed a secret intelligence unit operating out of Turkey.

The IDF in November said it had targeted Mushtaha and Siraj in a tunnel, but was unable to confirm their deaths.

However, the sources quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat say the strike on the tunnel that killed the Hamas members took place around a week and a half ago, noting that the underground hideout has been partially damaged in an airstrike at the beginning of the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre.

The report says that the tunnel was used by the terror group as a command and control center and that it has rooms for sleeping, where operatives can hide out for extended periods.

The Hamas sources say the bodies of the assassinated leaders were pulled from the rubble after the most recent bombing in a complicated extraction effort that took several days. They were reportedly buried last night.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report. 

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