
Israel eliminates Hamas leader Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa, who planned October 7 attack
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Saturday that, in coordination with the Israel Security Agency (ISA), they had killed one of the founding members of Hamas in an airstrike.
Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa, a high-ranking commander in Hamas' military wing, was targeted and killed in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood on Friday.
According to the IDF, Al-Issa served as the head of Hamas' combat support headquarters, oversaw the group's military training operations, played a central role in building its military capabilities in the Gaza Strip, and was part of Hamas' General Security Council.
Eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing. Issa led Hamas' force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre. As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial & naval attacks against Israelis," said the IDF in a post on X.
The IDF & ISA will continue to locate and eliminate all terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre, the IDF further added.
Issa's killing comes shortly after a series of high-profile Israeli operations targeting militant leaders. Just days earlier, the IDF reported eliminating Asaad Abu Sharia, the head of the Mujahideen Brigades—a Palestinian jihadist group accused of the abduction and execution of Hamas hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks.
Abu Sharia was killed in Gaza City in a joint mission by the IDF and Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet.
In a separate operation last month, the IDF also eliminated Hamas leader Mohammad Sinwar in an airstrike on a Gaza hospital. Sinwar had been hiding in tunnels beneath the facility, and dramatic footage later showed Israeli soldiers pulling his body from the debris.
(This is a developing story)

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