Tel Aviv [Israel], March 12: Israel was checking on Monday whether it had killed Hamas's deputy military leader in an airstrike in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said, as prospects faded for a ceasefire to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
If his death is confirmed, Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist militant movement killed by Israel in five months of war that has pulverised the coastal enclave and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Issa, known as the 'Shadow Man' for his ability to stay out of sight, was one of three top Hamas leaders who planned the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war and who are believed to have been directing Hamas's military operations since then.
Speaking at a briefing with reporters, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel had bombed the Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday night following intelligence about the location of Issa, second-in-command of Hamas's military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.
Two Hamas leaders - Issa and another commander responsible for Hamas weapons in Gaza - used the underground compound that Israeli jets struck in a joint operation with Israel's Shin Bet security service, Hagari said.
"Beside them in the tunnel there were other terrorists," he said but added that it was still not clear whether Issa had been killed.
A Palestinian source said the Israelis had hit a place where they thought Issa was hiding, but could give no details of his fate.
"There still aren't indications with certainty," Chili Tropper, an Israeli cabinet minister, told Israel's Channel 13 television on Monday.
"If indeed Marwan Issa was eliminated, who in many ways is Hamas' military chief of staff, it's a great achievement by the IDF and Shin Bet, he said.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
