In an announcement by an official from White House Jake Sullivan, the deputy military commander of Hamas, Mr. Marwan Issa has become Hamas’s most senior leader to have died in an air strike by Israel since 7 October 2023. Palestinian control groups in Gaza have not reported this death yet.
The report of Mr. Issa’s death in the Nuseirat refugee camp was released and confirmed by Israeli media. He died as a result of an air strike on the tunnel complex when he was present in the Nuseirat refugee camp last week. He was the deputy commander of the Izz ad-din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Mr. Issa was one of the most wanted men in Israel and was placed on the terrorist banned list by the European Union. The European Union associated him with the killings in the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. Israel imprisoned him during the first Palestinian Intifada for five years. The Palestinian Authority detained him in 1997 until the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada in 2000.
Mr. Marwan Issa is the only Hamas leader targeted by Israel. Before him, Israel also attacked and killed the political leader of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, in the Dahiyeh region of Beirut.
Hamas leaders are considered to be hiding themselves in Gaza, “likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network,” said the national security advisor of the White House, Mr. Sullivan. He also added that Israel, with the help of the USA, will hunt down the remaining Hamas leaders too, and “justice will come for them, too.”
While talking to the reporters, the US national security advisor said that the attack “would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally.”.
Mr. Sullivan, while informing the media about Mr. Biden’s forcing of Mr. Netanyahu for a “clear, strategic end game” in Gaza, also said, “The president told the prime minister again today that we share the goal of defeating Hamas, but we just believe you need a coherent and sustainable strategy to make that happen.”
Mr. Biden convinced Mr. Netanyahu to send a “senior interagency team composed of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials” to the USA for a detailed discussion on its objections to the Rafah invasion by Israel. Mr. Sullivan further told the media that Israel will pause its attacks on Gaza until the talks end.
Mr. Netanyahu, about his talks with US officials, posted on XP that they “discussed the latest developments in the war.” According to him, their main objectives included “eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals.”
