Hamas Battalion’s Entire Chain of Command Eliminated in Airstrike
Jerusalem, 10 September, 2024 (TPS) -- An Israeli airstrike in the Rafah area of southern Gaza killed the commander of Hamas’s Tel al-Sultan Battalion and three company commanders, eliminating the battalion’s chain of command.
Killed in the strike were the commander of Hamas’ Tel al-Sultan Battalion, Mahmoud Hamdan, three company commanders, and dozens of additional terrorists in the battalion.
The Israel Defense Forces said Hamdan played a significant role in planning Hamas’s October 7 attacks.
According to the IDF, troops directed the airstrike after identifying several terror cells operating drones.
Earlier in the day, the army disclosed the identities of three senior Hamas figures targeted in an overnight airstrike while disputing Hamas’s claimed civilian death toll.
Israeli jets struck a Hamas command and control center embedded inside the Mawasi humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis. The strike targeted Samer Ismail Khader Abu Daqqa, the head of Hamas’s aerial forces; Osama Tabash, the head of surveillance and targets in Hamas’s intelligence division; and Ayman Mabouh, another senior Hamas officer.
“These terrorists were directly involved in the execution of the October 7th Massacre and have been recently operating to carry out terror activities against the IDF and the State of Israel,” the IDF said.
Throughout the war, Israel has struck numerous Hamas control centers, rocket launchers, weapons caches and other assets located inside Gaza’s humanitarian zones.
On Thursday, Israel disclosed that a booby-trapped tunnel leading to the bodies of six hostages was found beneath a children’s playroom in Rafah.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.