IDF strikes four anti-tank missile cells in Gaza within two hours

By ANNA AHRONHEIM, TZVI JOFFRE, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

The IDF carried out a series of bombing strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, destroying the terror group’s central bank and internal security headquarters, as well as the home of a top Hamas commander.

Additionally on Thursday, the IDF struck at least four terrorist cells that were preparing to launch anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM’s) towards Israel within about two hours. Further ATGM cells were hit later in the afternoon.

The IDF said that it destroyed the buildings in a series of airstrikes across Gaza throughout the pre-dawn hours of Thursday.

One target was the home of Iyad Tayib, a top Hamas commander who oversaw a number of battalions. The IDF said that the home was being used for terrorist purposes. In addition, the military bombed a building that it said was being used as Hamas’s central bank, as well as a force that the Israeli military said belonged to the terrorist group’s navy unit.

 

On Wednesday, Israel succeeded in striking at Hamas’s top military command, killing a number of its top operatives. The men were killed in a joint IDF-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation early Wednesday when the IDF said it carried out a series of targeted killings in Gaza City and Khan Younis, eliminating senior members of Hamas’s General Staff who were considered close to the head of the group’s military wing, Mohammed Deif.

The dead men were identified as Bassem Issa, the head of the Gaza City brigade since 2017, and Jamaa Tahla, head of the group’s cyber network and missile improvement project. According to the Shin Bet, Tahla was the right-hand man of Deif and the central leader of the group’s efforts to improve its military capabilities.

“Hitting him is a significant blow to Hamas’ capabilities,” the security agency said of Tahla.

Gamal Zabda, the head of the group’s development and projects department, who was the main player in Hamas’s rocket unit, was also killed. According to the Shin Bet, Zabda who held a PhD in mechanical engineering with a specialty in aerodynamics, was a significant source of knowledge for Hamas. Also killed was deputy chief of staff Khazem Khatib, who was head of the engineering department in Hamas’s production division.

Early Thursday morning, the home of Hamas battalion commander Iyad Tayeb was destroyed by IDF forces in continued strikes in the Gaza Strip.

For more on live rocket attack updates read here

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For more on world reactions to Gaza violence read here

Palestinian media reported that around 83 people had been killed in the IDF strikes, including 17 children, and that more than 487 had been wounded. The Gaza Health Ministry claimed on Wednesday morning that 43% of the casualties were women and children, due to what it claimed were targeted attacks against civilians.

In an earlier attack, the IDF eliminated two Hamas intelligence operatives who it said were responsible for rocket barrages into Israel: Hassan Kaogi, the head of Hamas’s military intelligence security wing, as well as his second-in-command, Wail Issa, the head of its intelligence counter-espionage wing.

On Tuesday, the military killed two top Islamic Jihad terrorists, striking a blow, it said, to the terror group’s rocket infrastructure. It also eliminated the head of the Hamas anti-tank missile unit Tuesday evening in an airstrike.

One of the terrorists was identified as Samah Abed al-Mamlouk. The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that Mamlouk, attacked in a hideout together with a number of additional Islamic Jihad operatives, was in charge of Islamic Jihad’s rocket arsenal.