The Israeli Air Force killed Hamas terrorists who took over a UN facility in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya after turning it into a command and control center, the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday night.
“The command and control complex was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the IDF forces and the State of Israel,” the military said. “Hamas systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terrorist acts.”
The IDF said it used precise munitions and aerial surveillance to minimize the risk of collateral damage to civilians in the vicinity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) facility.
UNRWA, which supports the perpetual descendants of “Palestinian” refugees, has been under fire for months, with Israeli officials demanding the agency be stripped of its authority in Gaza and defunded amid revelations that members of the agency’s staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. The Israeli government is bypassing UNRWA in distributing humanitarian aid and advancing legislation to label the agency as a terror organization and remove its diplomatic immunity, tax-exempt status and other legal benefits.
On Monday, Israel confirmed hat the commander of Hamas forces in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif, was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. He was also an employee of the embattled United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Sherif — who was the principal of UNRWA’s Deir Yassin School in Tyre — was in charge of coordinating Hamas’s Lebanese activities with Hezbollah, while also purchasing weapons and recruiting operatives.
Also on Saturday, the IDF also disclosed that three Hamas figures who played key roles in helping the terror group maintain control of Gaza were killed in an airstrike three months ago.
“Following the strike on the compound and the elimination of the terrorists, Hamas did not announce their deaths as it had done following previous eliminations, in order to prevent loss of morale and functioning of its terror operatives,” the IDF said.
The three were identified as Rawhi Mushtaha, the Head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip; Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio on Hamas’ political bureau and Hamas’ Labor Committee; and Sami Oudeh, Commander of Hamas’ General Security Mechanism. They were eliminated while hiding in a fortified underground bunker in northern Gaza.
Mushtaha was one of Hamas’ most senior operatives and had a direct impact on decisions relating to Hamas’ force deployment. Mushtaha was involved in military decisions while also acting as the Head of Hamas Civil Governance in the Gaza Strip and holding the Prisoners Affairs Portfolio. He also formerly held the finance portfolio.
Mushtaha, alongside Yahya Sinwar, established Hamas’ General Security Mechanism. They served a prison sentence together in an Israeli jail. Mushtaha was considered to be the most senior figure in the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip, and during the war maintained civil control of the Hamas regime, while simultaneously engaging in terrorist activity against Israel. Mushtaha was Sinwar’s right-hand man and one of his closest associates.
Unfortunately, according to a new assessment, it is now believed that Sinwar may still be alive.
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.
