Israel Aims To Wipe Out Hamas Commanders Totally Ahead Oct 7 Massacre Anniversary
Israel’s military is ramping up its campaign to kill Hamas commanders ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 100 terrorists in recent weeks, including senior leaders and perpetrators of the massacre, Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
That represents a sharp increase compared with earlier months. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told The Telegraph it had killed 500 members of terrorist groups since the ceasefire took effect last October, most of them from Hamas.
At least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes since the US-brokered ceasefire, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
An Israeli air strike killed Izz al-Din Al-Beik, the head of Hamas’s armed wing in north Gaza on Tuesday. He was a leader of the Oct 7 attacks and was involved in planning attacks and recruitment, the IDF said.
A day earlier, Saher Nidal Latfi Sakr, who abducted Israeli civilians – including Noa Argamani – from the Nova music festival on a motorbike, was assassinated in an airstrike in Gaza.
The IDF also killed Adi Adli Abd Al-Aaser, a sniper in Hamas’s military wing, on Sunday, saying that he had “advanced attacks” against Israeli troops and civilians and “operated to restore” Hamas’s capabilities “in systematic violation of the ceasefire”.
The ceasefire, announced by Donald Trump last year, requires Israel to end its strikes and withdraw from Gaza and for Hamas to agree to disarm.
Little progress has been made, with Israel saying everything hinges on Hamas disarming and Hamas accusing Israel of violating the agreement by occupying the strip and continuing to carry out regular strikes on Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu claimed Israel’s enemies could attack before this month’s parliamentary elections as he stood in front of a fighter jet at a military base.
The Israeli prime minister, who is in a close race to retain power according to opinion polls, has said the assassinations of commanders are intended to prevent Hamas from regrouping and carrying out further attacks against Israel.
Giora Eiland, the former head of the Israeli National Security Council, said assassinations are “very effective” as they force Hamas commanders to be more concerned about their own security and less about planning the next attack against Israel.
Others, however, have argued that the assassinated Hamas commanders are often replaced by even more extreme individuals.
Dr Michael Milshtein, the head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at Tel Aviv University, agreed that assassinations are an effective tool but said it won’t cause a “total collapse”.
The last four senior Hamas commanders killed in recent weeks were lower level just a few years ago but rose quickly through the ranks because Israel killed between 80pc-90pc of the commanders during the war, Dr Milshtein said.
“Hamas is able to immediately nominate the deputy or another figure, but of course they don’t have the same capacities. Those who were killed had a lot of experience and were much more sophisticated and professional from a military point of view,” Dr Milshtein told the Telegraph.
“But organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen are flexible and can adapt quickly to all kinds of new conditions,” he added.
Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader, accused Mr Netanyahu of fear-mongering over his claims that Israel’s enemies may attack before the elections on Oct 27.
Mr Netanyahu has issued warnings in recent weeks to Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah and even the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, vowing retaliation in case of an attack.
Mr Lapid, speaking after a security briefing he’d demanded with the prime minister, said he was certain elections will take place on time and that “there is no reason to panic the public”.
He again accused Mr Netanyahu of failing to heed warnings of the Hamas attack on Oct 7, 2023 – the deadliest ever against Israel.
Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza following the terror attack.
“Netanyahu ignored every warning before Oct 7 and now, 28 days before the election, he’s suddenly busy fear-mongering,” Mr Lapid said.
“I of course will not violate the confidentiality of the security briefing, but it must be said – security threats must be handled professionally and responsibly.”
Israeli military bases “are not the setting for election videos”, Mr Lapid added.
In addition to targeted killings the IDF has also embarked on a different campaign in the past year: destroying as many Hamas tunnels as possible in the area it controls in Gaza.
The IDF told the Telegraph that it estimates at least 80 per cent of the tunnels have been destroyed on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line.
But this still leaves dozens of tunnels on the Hamas-controlled side, an estimate the IDF has difficulty making as it is not operating there.
Dr Milshtein claimed Hamas’s lack of response to Israel’s assassination campaign is that they lack proper military capabilities.
“They are trying to buy time,” Dr Milshtein said, adding that Hamas is attempting to rearm and regroup.
“They manufacture weapons, such as explosive devices, by taking apart all kinds of unexploded bombs left by the IDF and creating new devices,” he said.
Another way Hamas is trying to rearm is by smuggling weapons via drones from both the Israeli and Egyptian sides of the border, Dr Milshtein added.
Mr Eiland also believes that Hamas is trying to build its own drones given how inexpensive and relatively easy it is: “You buy the components and you can assemble them yourself. I’m afraid that they are capable of doing it sooner or later.”
So far Israel has assassinated Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza over the past year while arresting numerous members in the West Bank.
But Israel Katz, the defence minister, said on Monday that Hamas leaders abroad “are also in the crosshairs”.
“None of these despicable murderers, who played a central role in the October 7 massacre, may be allowed to die peacefully,” Mr Katz said.
Mr Katz took over as political leader of the IDF in November 2024. He has since advocated hawkish positions, including the widespread demolition of civilian homes in Gaza and southern Lebanon on the basis, he said, of destroying terrorist infrastructure.
Most recently, he has suggested that he will order the evacuation of one of the major West Bank refugee camps.
Mr Eiland believes the defence minister’s threat to kill Hamas commanders abroad is just part of the government election campaign. He pointed to how Hamas’s leaders are mainly based in Qatar and Turkey, two countries Israel would be wise not to attack.
“We are very reluctant to operate in these two countries,” he said.
Dr Milshtein is less convinced that this is just election talk as the Israeli government is “not very balanced” these days.
“I will not be totally surprised if, for example, Israel decides to attack again in Doha (Qatar). But of course consequences will be catastrophic, mainly because of the American response,” he said, referring to Israel’s assassination attempt on Hamas leaders in Doha last year, which led to a harsh rebuke from Mr Trump./TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
