Israeli fighter jets kill 3 senior Hamas commanders
The Israeli military said on Friday that its fighter jets eliminated three high-ranking Hamas operatives of the Daraj Tuffah Battalion. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said these individuals played a crucial part in Hamas's October 7 assault on Israel. The IDF posted the mugshots of the slain operatives on their official X account, adding that they belonged to the battalion considered to be the most significant brigade of Hamas.
Hamas intelligence directorate deputy head killed earlier
The attacks were based on the intelligence gathered by the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) or the Shin Bet. The Daraj Tuffah Battalion reportedly operates under the Gaza City Brigade. Earlier on Thursday, the IDF said its airstrike killed Hamas's intelligence directorate deputy head Shadi Barud. Meanwhile, Hamas said Israel's airstrikes on Gaza killed around 50 hostages, whom the Palestinian group had taken with it during its October 7 attack on Israel.
May have to shut operations soon: UNRWA
Israeli forces also executed their largest ground assault in Gaza in their 20-day conflict with Hamas overnight on Thursday, as anger escalated in the Arab world over Israel's continuous bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it may have to shut down operations in Gaza as the territory has almost completely run out of fuel as Israel throttled essential supplies.
Over 10,000 sites belonging to Hamas, others struck
Israeli Air Force sources said that around 10,000 Hamas and other terror group installations have been targeted since the war began. Over 7,000 people have died as a result of the strikes, many of them children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The figures, however, cannot be independently verified. On the other hand, Israel claims to have killed 1,500 Hamas terrorists inside Israel on and after October 7.
