The armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas announced on Sunday the death of the military commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade and three other executives during the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territory.
Ahmed al-Ghandour was a member of the Hamas Military Council and considered a “terrorist” by US authorities since 2017. He was accused of being involved in an attack against the Israeli army in 2006 at the Kerem Shalom crossing, between Israel and the Gaza Strip, in the far south of the Palestinian territory.
Targeted for a long time by the Israeli army, he had lost two of his children in strikes before the current offensive.
Among the other executives named in the al-Qassam Brigades press release, all killed before the start of the truce in progress since Friday, is Ayman Siam, presented as the leader of the rocket firing units. “We swear before God that we will continue their path and that their blood will constitute a light for the mujahideen and a fire against the occupiers,” adds the text.
Hamas rarely communicates about its dead. In mid-October, however, he announced the death of Ayman Nofal, a commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, in an Israeli army strike on the Bureij refugee camp (center).
The Israeli army confirmed this, adding that Nofal “led numerous attacks against Israel,” “supervised the making of weapons” and “took part in organizing the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit,” a captured Israeli soldier. in 2006 and released in 2011.
Last week, a senior Israeli military official spoke of the deaths of “more than 50” Hamas commanders since the start of the operation in the Gaza Strip. The figure could not be verified from independent sources by AFP.
The army “eliminated hundreds of terrorists and most of the battalion commanders”, he added, saying that the damage caused to the enemy reduced its ability to fight today and rebuild tomorrow.
“Not 10,000, not 1000”
The Israeli official also refused to give a precise estimate of the number of fighters killed. “Not 10,000, not 1000, somewhere in between.”
According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people, the vast majority civilians, were killed during the October 7 attack on Israel, with unprecedented violence in the country’s history.
In retaliation, Israel promised to “eliminate” Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, relentlessly bombing the Palestinian territory and launching a ground offensive on October 27, until the truce. started Friday.
In the Gaza Strip, nearly 15,000 people were killed by Israeli strikes, according to the Hamas government.
The fighting stopped due to the entry into force of this minimum four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, obtained thanks to the mediation of Qatar and the United States in particular.
The end of the fighting should allow the release of 50 Israeli hostages captured on October 7, compared to three times as many Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
The agreement also includes the entry of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip. So far, 26 Israelis have been released, plus 15 foreigners, compared to 78 Palestinian prisoners.