Pics Of Top Hamas Operatives Killed By Israel Released

Israel was caught off-guard by Hamas operatives last weekend who entered through the border fence under a barrage of rocket fire. In response, Israel is carrying out a massive air and artillery bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. 

On Monday, Israel Defence Forces released pictures of key operatives of the Hamas group killed by them. Israel Defence Forces wrote on X, ''Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization. We will eliminate Hamas.'' The list of Hamas operatives includes Ali Qadi, Muetaz Eid, Zachariah Abu Ma'amar, Joad Abu Shmalah, Belal Alqadra, and Merad Abu Merad.

See the tweet here:

Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization.

We will eliminate Hamas. pic.twitter.com/pjz6mC2FYl

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 16, 2023

Ali Qadi, described as ''a company commander of the Hamas 'Nukhba' commando force'' was killed in one of the airstrikes. Two other senior Hamas leaders, Zachariah Abu Ma'amar and Joad Abu Shamala, were also killed in overnight airstrikes on Gaza last week,  according to Israel National News.

Abu Ma'amar was involved in the organization's decision-making and planning of terrorist actions against Israel, while Abu Shamala was Hamas' economy minister, as per the New York Post.

Israel Defense Forces also claimed they eliminated Belal Alqadra, the commander of the southern Khan Yunis Nukhba forces, in the Gaza Strip on October 14. On October 15, the Israeli Air Force neutralised the National Security's Commander of Hamas, identified as Muetaz Eid. 

Merad Abu Merad, a Hamas commander who is said to have led the October 7 attack on Israel, was also killed by Israel on Saturday, its military said. Merad was the head of the Hamas aerial system. 

"The IDF also struck over one hundred military targets located in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya. These strikes impacted the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, by targeting its operational command centers, military compounds, dozens of launchers, anti-tank missile launch posts, and observation posts. Furthermore, operational command centers belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization were struck,'' the IDF statement said.

Israeli troops also killed four militants attempting to infiltrate from Lebanon, the army said Tuesday, as tensions run high along the border between the two countries. Earlier the army said it had carried out strikes overnight on Hezbollah "terrorist" targets inside Lebanon.

Meanwhile, over one million people in Gaza have been displaced as Israeli troops now wait for a political go-ahead to launch a ground invasion.