US reports death of senior Hamas military leader

 

Leading Hamas figure Marwan Issa perished in an Israeli airstrike, according to White House spokesperson Jake Sullivan.

Mr. Issa would be the most senior Hamas leader to pass away since the war’s start on October 7th, having served as deputy military commander.

The Palestinian organization in charge of Gaza has not formally responded to reports of his passing.

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a critical phone conversation on Monday throughout the war.

According to Israeli media outlets, Mr. Issa died a week ago in an Israeli air attack that targeted a tunnel complex beneath the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

One of the most wanted men in Israel was the deputy commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military branch of Hamas. The European Union directly connected the leader of Hamas to the group’s October 7 attack, which claimed the lives of almost 1,200 people and ignited the conflict, by adding him to its terrorist blacklist.

 

During the First Palestinian Intifada, he was imprisoned by Israel for five years, and from 1997 until the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000, he was held captive by the Palestinian Authority.

Since October 7th, several key officials of Hamas have been assassinated by the Israeli force. Saleh al-Arouri, the political leader of Hamas, perished in an explosion in the Dahiyeh area in southern Beirut. Most people agree that Israel was behind the strike.

According to Mr. Sullivan, national security adviser to the White House, other Hamas commanders are thought to be hidden “probably deep in the Hamas tunnel network” in Gaza.

The US will support Israel in its ongoing search for senior Hamas figures, he promised, adding, “Justice will come for them, too.”

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Although he acknowledged Israel’s many military victories over Hamas since the war’s beginning, he also emphasized that President Biden had called Mr. Netanyahu to voice his growing concern over the growing toll of civilian casualties.

 

Speaking to Mr. Sullivan, the president reaffirmed Israel’s “right to go after Hamas” and his devotion to the country, but he also stated that it would be a “mistake” for Israel’s forces to enter Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where an estimated one million people have fled during the conflict.

The US national security adviser told reporters that the invasion “would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally.”

The Gaza Health Ministry, which Hamas administers, reports that since the conflict began on October 7, more than 31,000 Palestinian civilians have perished. Numerous allies of Israel have become enraged by the death toll and have condemned Israel internationally.

According to Mr. Sullivan, during the call, President Biden pressed Mr. Netanyahu for a “clear, strategic end game” in Gaza.

“The president told the prime minister again today that we share the goal of defeating Hamas, but we just believe you need a coherent and sustainable strategy to make that happen,” he stated.

In order to explain US fears about an assault on Rafah, Mr. Biden was able to persuade the Israeli leader to agree to send a “senior interagency team composed of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials” to Washington in the coming days.

According to Mr. Sullivan, it is anticipated that Israel will postpone its attack until after the summit.

The two “discussed the latest developments in the war” as well as Israel’s objectives in the fight, according to Mr. Netanyahu, who verified the call on X, the former Twitter.

“Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza never gains constitutes a threat to Israel while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals,” stated the Israeli prime minister, as some of the goals.

Senior Democrats in the US had become increasingly outspoken in their criticism of Mr. Netanyahu before Mr. Biden’s call.

The top Democrat in the Senate, Charles Schumer, demanded new elections in Israel on Thursday, accusing Mr. Netanyahu of putting his “political survival” ahead of the needs of the nation.

Retaliating, Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party asserted that the prime minister’s policies were “supported by a large majority” and that Israel was not a “banana republic”.

On Friday, Mr. Biden informed reporters in the Oval Office that he had anticipated Mr. Schumer’s comments. Nonetheless, the Senate leader “expressed serious concern shared not only by him but many Americans,” according to the president.

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