Amid the war, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shared a chart showing the hierarchy of Hamas' leadership. Ismail Haniyeh, at the top of the leadership, is a Palestinian politician and a prominent leader of Hamas. As per BBC, he was elected head of Hamas's political bureau in 2017. In 2018, the US Department of State designated Haniyeh a terrorist. He has lived in Qatar for the past several years.
Meanwhile, Yahya Sinwar is the leader of the Hamas movement within the Gaza Strip. He is the founder of the Hamas security service known as Majd, which manages internal security matters, investigates suspected Israeli agents, and tracks down Israeli intelligence and security services officers. In 2015, the US included Sinwar on its blacklist of "international terrorists".
The third prominent member is Mohammed Deif who leads the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas movement. He is one of Israel's most-wanted men, accused of planning and supervising bus bombings that killed tens of Israelis in 1996, and of involvement in the capture and killing of three Israeli soldiers in the mid-1990s.
''This is Hamas' organizational hierarchy—its leadership is in control of Gaza. This is who's responsible for Hamas' attacks against Israeli civilians. We know who you are,'' IDF wrote on X, along with pictures of Hamas operatives.
See the tweet here:
Earlier, Israel Defence Forces released pictures of key operatives of the Hamas group killed by them. The list of Hamas operatives included Ali Qadi, Muetaz Eid, Zachariah Abu Ma'amar, Joad Abu Shmalah, Belal Alqadra, and Merad Abu Merad.
Israel also bombarded Gaza, where authorities say nearly 3,500 people have been killed, after the Hamas group attacked Israeli cities on October 7 and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took nearly 200 hostages.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel hours after a horrific explosion at a hospital in Gaza reportedly killed nearly 500 people on Tuesday. While Palestinian authorities pinned the blamed on Israel's ruthless ongoing retaliation, Israel claimed Hamas-supported Islamic Jihad misfired a rocket that landed on the hospital.
Mr Biden cautioned Israelis not to be blinded by rage after suffering their deadliest-ever attack, warning that the United States made mistakes after September 11.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday and said that he "grieves" with Israel and stands with them against the "evil that is terrorism".
