Israel authorities confirmed on Sunday that they killed the spokesman of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as military operations continue in the coastal enclave where the population faces starvation and devastation is enormous, after nearly two years of war.
“Now we fear the night, (we fear) sleeping in our tents,” said resident Iman Rajab, following repeated Israeli airstrikes that claimed the lives of at least 63 people, according to civil defense.
“The terrorist Hamas spokesman, Abu Obaida, has been eliminated in Gaza, sent to meet the other eliminated members of Iran’s axis of evil, Lebanon and Yemen in the depths of hell,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz commented via X.
The Israeli army had earlier announced the death of “Hudhaifa al-Kahlout, known by the pseudonym Abu Obaida.”
Israel’s message: “We will reach Hamas leaders abroad too”
Hamas has not yet responded to this announcement.
“We haven’t finished, most Hamas leaders are abroad,” but “we will reach them too,” said Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
Spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades since 2002, Abu Obaida was among the Hamas figures who announced the October 7, 2023 raid on southern Israel through video, which triggered the war.
Since the outbreak of war, he delivered dozens of televised speeches, released audio messages and press statements, while also making frequent social media posts. He always appeared in military uniform with his facial features covered by a Palestinian keffiyeh.
A new wave of overnight bombardments hit various sectors of the Gaza Strip from Saturday night to Sunday, especially the city of Gaza, where the Israeli army is preparing for a large-scale attack to capture it in order to “finish” Hamas, as promised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
At dawn Sunday, smoke rose from Gaza City, in the northern part of the enclave. In front of a destroyed tent, blood-soaked blankets were visible among the debris.
“We pray to God for the war to end because we are exhausted from displacement, we are afraid and hungry,” said Iman Rajab, who lives in a displaced persons camp that was hit, in the Makusi neighborhood.
“Horror, fear and destruction. All the tents caught fire, only God protected us from the fire,” said Ashraf Abu Amsa, who lives in a tent nearby.
At the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, relatives mourned in front of corpses lined up on the ground.
63 killed Sunday in Gaza due to Israeli attacks
Civil defense counted 63 dead on Sunday in various Israeli army attacks on the enclave, including 24 near food distribution centers.
When asked by AFP, the Israeli army said it is very difficult to provide information without specific times and locations for the incidents.
Given the restrictions imposed by Israeli military authorities on media and the inability to access many points in the Gaza Strip, AFP notes that it cannot independently verify announcements made by either side.
According to the UN, almost the entire population has been forced to repeatedly displace due to the war in the Gaza Strip, where approximately 2 million residents have been under Israeli army siege for nearly 23 months.
The UN has declared parts of the enclave in a state of famine, which the Israeli government denies.
On Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned against the massive hasty evacuation of Gaza City’s population, which the Israeli army emphasizes is “inevitable” ahead of the ground assault to capture it.
Thousands of residents have already abandoned it. According to the UN, the population of the Gaza area – the city and its surroundings – is estimated to have reached one million people.
With the pre-announced capture of Gaza City, Netanyahu and his far-right government partners assure they will finish Hamas and bring back the hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, Hamas confirmed the death of another of its leaders, Mohammed Sinwar, three months after the Israeli army announced it killed him in a strike in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The October 7, 2023 raid resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people abducted that day, 47 remain in the Gaza Strip, but 25 have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
In the large-scale Israeli military retaliation operations, at least 63,459 people have died in the Palestinian enclave, mostly civilians, according to the latest figures from the Health Ministry of the Hamas government.
Source: ANA-MPA
