Israeli forces killed three high-ranking Hamas commanders who were involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in a targeted strike, Israel Defense Forces confirmed early Tuesday morning.
The strike, which targeted a Khan Yunis command and control center embedded in a humanitarian area, killed Hamas leaders Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, the head of Hamas’s aerial unit in the Gaza Strip, and Osama Tabesh, who is in charge of Hamas’s military observation and targets department. The operation also killed Ayman Mabhouh, another senior Hamas commander.
"These terrorists were directly involved in the execution of the October 7 Massacre and have been recently operating to carry out terror activities against the IDF and the State of Israel," the IDF wrote in a Tuesday statement following the attack. "Prior to the strike, extensive intelligence gathering was conducted, as well as continuous aerial surveillance in the hours leading up to the strike, which confirmed the presence of the terrorists in the area alongside additional terrorist operatives."
Hamas terrorists have been hiding among Gaza’s civilian population, embedding themselves in humanitarian areas and hospitals in an attempt to deter Israeli attacks. Israel has repeatedly warned civilians in the region that the terrorist group is using them as "human shields."
"Despite the extensive measures taken by the IDF to enable the Gazan population to move away from combat zones, including by designating a Humanitarian Area, the Hamas terrorist organization continues to embed its operatives and military infrastructure in the Humanitarian Area and systematically use Gazan civilians as a human shield for its terrorist activities."
Hamas leaders, who notoriously exaggerate casualties, originally reported 40 people killed in the strike before adjusting the number to 19.
The New York Times published a news alert early Tuesday morning quoting "Gazan authorities," which are Hamas terrorists, saying "huge craters and entire families missing" in Khan Yunis. The headline failed to mention the targeted terrorists killed in the strike. The Washington Post, in its report, quoted the terrorist group who called Israel’s defense "heinous crimes," also failing to include in its headline the intended target of Israel’s airstrike.
As the war approaches the one-year mark, White House advisers expressed doubt on Tuesday that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas will happen anytime soon.
"We are still working, but we are not about to present anything imminently. We are in a tough spot," a U.S. official told Axios.