Israel says it has killed five commanders of a key Hamas military group since the October 7th massacres. Israel’s Defense Force (IDF) say the commanders were part of the Hamas Aerial Array, which operates a variety of weapons against the State of Israel, is responsible for air defenses, and played a significant role in the October 7 massacre.
Israel identified the commanders as Murad Abu Murad, Commander of the Hamas Aerial Array in Gaza City; Moed’ Abdel Rahman, Head of Hamas Training Portfolio in Gaza City; Othman Hamdan, Aerial Defense Officer of Hamas’ Zabra Tel Elhua Battalion; Machud El Rifi, Hamas Weapons Supply Manager in Gaza City, and Essan Shalouf, Head of Training for the Hamas Aerial Defense Array in northern Gaza.
Israel has been launching airstrikes into Gaza before beginning its ground operation, announcing Monday that the IDF has struck more than 320 military targets inside the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.
On Sunday, the IDF released aerial photos which show some of the Hamas rocket launch sites destroyed. The sites were strategically placed by Hamas to sway world opinion on their favor if they were attacked. One is near a United Nations building, three right next to schools, including one kindergarten school, and another by a mosque.
The New York Post reports: In a “real-time update” posted on its website Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said it struck more than 320 military targets in the Gaza Strip over a daylong period.
“The terror targets were struck based on IDF and ISA [Israel Security Authority] intelligence, and included tunnels containing Hamas terrorists, dozens of operational command centers (some of which concealed Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists) and more,” said the news brief, published at 8:50 a.m. local time (1:50 a.m. ET).
“The IDF struck targets that posed a threat to forces in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip who are preparing for ground operations, including dozens of mortar shell and anti-tank missile launch posts.
“Overnight, an IDF tank thwarted a number of terrorist cells, including an anti-tank missile cell.”