The Israeli military claimed it killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike, who was responsible for holding approximately 1,000 people and patients as hostages in a Gaza hospital. In a tweet posted on X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that Ahmed Siam was also responsible for preventing the evacuation of Gaza residents to the Southward.
''IDF aircraft just struck Ahmed Siam, responsible for holding approximately 1,000 Gazan residents and patients hostage at the Rantisi Hospital and preventing their evacuation southward. Siam was a commander in Hamas' Naser Radwan Company and is another example of Hamas using civilians in Gaza as human shields for terrorist purposes,'' the tweet read.
See the tweet here:
Who is Ahmed Sian?
- Ahmed Siam was a company commander of Hamas's Naser Radwan Company, according to the IDF.
- He was struck via a fighter jet while hiding at the al-Buraq school in Gaza City, along with other Hamas operatives under his command.
- The IDF said that they had received intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate regarding his whereabouts. The Givati Brigade troops guided the fighter jet to strike the location where the Hamas terrorist was hiding.
- The strike on Siam came shortly after the IDF accused him of keeping about 1,000 civilians hostages inside Gaza City's al-Rantisi Hospital, home to Gaza's only pediatric cancer ward.
- Israel said that Siam's actions proved that Hamas uses the civilians of the Gaza Strip as human shields for terror purposes. Israel's military also said Hamas uses hospitals as operational bases and hides weapons in tunnels underneath them, although Hamas denied these charges.
Israeli forces have also killed several other Hamas operatives linked to the October 7 attacks, during which the Palestinian group launched an unprecedented assault on Israel. Hamas operatives including Ali Qadi, Muetaz Eid, Zachariah Abu Ma'amar, Joad Abu Shmalah, Belal Alqadra, and Merad Abu Merad have all been eliminated by Israel.
The war between Israel and Hamas has killed an estimated 11,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
