PM: Israel targeted Hamas spokesman in strike, but unclear if he was killed: ‘Apparently, there’s no one from Hamas to speak about this’

At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms that Israel targeted Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida yesterday, but that Israel still does not know if he was killed.

“The Shin Bet and the IDF struck the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman of the murderous evil organization, Abu Obeida,” he says.

“We still don’t know the final outcome — I hope he is no longer with us — but I notice there’s no one to speak about this from Hamas’s side,” Netanyahu jokes. “So, the coming hours and days will tell.”

Unnamed Israeli security sources cited by Hebrew media expressed cautious optimism about the outcome of the strike on the notorious spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu says that the IDF “has already begun implementing” a recent cabinet decision “to defeat Hamas and bring back all of our hostages.” Those goals have long been the stated aims of the war in Gaza, but Netanyahu seems to be referencing the decision to move ahead with the conquest of Gaza City by the IDF.

Turning to last week’s strike on the Houthi political leadership, Netanyahu says that “in every one of his speeches, [Houthi leader Abdul-Malik] al-Houthi promises he will strike Israel, that he will destroy Israel. That’s written on their flag.”

“That promise will not be fulfilled,” he promises. “But our promise — to strike the terror regime with increased force — is being fulfilled. And how is it being fulfilled. In a deadly blow, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and additional military officials.”

He says that Israel will continue working to assassinate senior Houthi officials: “This is only the beginning of the campaign targeting senior officials in Sana’a. We will reach all of them.”

Netanyahu boasts that the Western and Arab coalitions that have attacked the Houthis in the past have not achieved what Israel has.

Since the June strikes on Iran, says Netanyahu, “we are striking the remaining parts of the axis systematically — day after day, front after front.”