 "Israel says killed two top Hamas officials, including internal security chief, in Gaza strike")
Israel on Thursday said that it killed two top Hamas officials, including head of Hamas’s internal security agency, in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces “in recent days… struck and eliminated the terrorist Rashid Jahjouh, head of the Hamas General Security Service, who assumed his position after the elimination of his predecessor, Sami Oudeh, in July 2024,” AFP quoted military spokesman Avichay Adraee as saying in a post on X.
According to a Times of Israel report, the IDF identified the another official as Amin Eslaiah, the head of the security mechanism in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
The security mechanism, according to the military, is a covert Hamas unit responsible for identifying “collaborators” with Israel, providing protection for high-ranking Hamas officials and assets both in Gaza and beyond, and suppressing dissent against Hamas’s authority.
Moreover, the mechanism is tasked with gathering intelligence for top Hamas leaders to inform their decision-making, added the IDF.
Jahjouh, as part of his role, was also responsible for Hamas’s internal propaganda.
Separately, the IDF said that a strike killed a prominent Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in smuggling weapons to the terror group.
According to the Times of Israel report, citing IDF, the operative, identified ad Ismail Abd al-Alal, “led most of the weapon smuggling efforts for the PIJ in recent years.”
More than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, shattering a ceasefire that has largely held since January.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOn Wednesday, the Israeli military said its forces resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
