Israel eliminates top Hamas commander
The slain Hamas commander, Ayman Nofal, was also a member of the organisation's General Military Council.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – Israel Defence Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the Israeli military did not strike the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and that the facility was hit by a failed rocket launched by the Islamic Jihad terror organisation.
The military said that following an additional review and cross-examination of the operational and intelligence systems, “it is clear that the IDF did not strike the hospital in Gaza”.
“I can confirm that following an analysis of the IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” said Hagari in a short video sent by the IDF.
Intelligence points to Islamic Jihad, “which is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza”, he said.
Hamas and most Arab nations blamed Israel for the explosion, which the Hamas terror group said killed some 500 people. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza later said between 200 and 300 had been killed.
The Israeli military said Gaza-based terror organisations fire rockets indiscriminately toward Israel and about 450 rockets launched toward Israel have fallen inside Gaza since the beginning of the war on October 7, “endangering and harming the lives of Gazan residents”.
Surveillance camera footage shows the moment the rocket launched from the Gaza Strip appears to fall short and explode inside the Palestinian enclave.
Earlier on Tuesday an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed the head of Hamas’s Central Gaza Brigade, a senior commander in the terror organisation, the military and Hamas said. At the same time, rockets from the Strip continued to target southern and central Israel, causing some damage and injuries.
Also on Tuesday, reports from Gaza indicated that 14 people had been killed in a strike on a home belonging to the family of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, including his brother and nephew. Haniyeh himself lives in Qatar.
The slain Hamas commander, Ayman Nofal, was also a member of the organisation’s General Military Council.
According to the IDF, Nofal, as part of his role, carried out “numerous attacks against Israel and security forces”.
The IDF said Nofal was also previously involved in the production and development of weapons and had been involved in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military killed four Hezbollah gunmen who attempted to infiltrate into the north of the country via Lebanon on Tuesday morning, the army and the terror group said. Two rockets were also launched from Lebanon into Israel, causing no damage.
Soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras observed a group approaching the Israel-Lebanon frontier and placing an explosive device near the barrier, close to the northern Israel community of Hanita, the IDF said.
Hours later, the IDF said anti-tank guided missiles were fired from Lebanon at Metula, one of 28 communities being evacuated from the north under the increasing threat of war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Hezbollah and Iran, urging them to stay on the sidelines of the fighting, as the IDF prepares to launch a ground operation in the Gaza Strip in its bid to uproot Hamas.
Calling on the world to unite to join Israel’s push to defeat Hamas, Netanyahu issued a stark warning to the Hezbollah terror group and its Iranian backers, saying: “Don’t try us, you will be severely harmed.”
The premier also observed that Israel has started learning from the failures that led to Hamas’s deadly infiltration on October 7, saying that: “The reasons for the disaster that occurred will be investigated … and we have started drawing conclusions.”
Israeli troops who entered the Gaza Strip on Friday to conduct “localised raids” found and recovered the remains of Israelis who have been missing since Hamas’s shock terror massacre on Saturday, according to reports in Hebrew media.
Haaretz reported late Friday that armoured and infantry forces who went into the Palestinian enclave, where an estimated 150-200 people are being held hostage by Hamas, retrieved the bodies of an unknown number of people and found some items belonging to people still missing since Saturday’s assault that killed more than 1300 people, the majority of them civilians.
The Walla news site specified that the bodies were those of Israelis, and indicated that they were recovered close to the border.
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