Hamas says commander of northern Gaza brigade dead
Hamas, the armed group that controls Gaza, said on Sunday that one of its top commanders had been killed in the war with Israel there.
Hamas’s announcement came on the third day of a four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to facilitate the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israel has vowed to continue its military campaign in the enclave after the ceasefire expires on Tuesday morning, with the main aim being the destruction of Hamas.
On Sunday morning, Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, issued a brief statement saying that Abu Anas al-Ghandour, who led the group’s fighters in northern Gaza, and three other commanders had been killed. No further details were given about when or where they had died.
The Israeli military said earlier this month that it had targeted Mr al-Ghandour in an attack on Hamas’s underground infrastructure. according to The Times of Israelbut did not say at the time whether he had been killed.
A number of other Hamas officials and commanders are believed to have been killed since Israel began a war in retaliation for the group’s October 7 attacks, which killed an estimated 1,200 people in southern Israel and led to the kidnapping of about 240 hostages. Israeli authorities.
Mr al-Ghandour was the top commander Hamas has confirmed dead since the group’s announcement last month that Ayman Nofal, a member of the General Military Council and commander of the Qassam Brigades’ Central Brigade, had been killed.
The State Department placed Mr al-Ghandour under US sanctions in 2017, saying this was “involved in many terrorist operations” – including a 2006 attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and led to the kidnapping of another, Gilad Shalit.
Mr Shalit was released in October 2011 in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. One of the freed, Yahya Sinwar, eventually became the leader of Hamas in Gaza and, according to Israeli officials, a mastermind behind the October 7 attacks.