Islamic terrorist group Hamas has appointed Gaza-based leader Yahya Sinwar to replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a recent blast while visiting Iran.
“Hamas named its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as successor to former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week, the group said on Tuesday,” Reuters reported.
61-year old Sinwar, who oversaw the October 7 massacre and has been directing Hamas terrorist fighters in the ensuing war against Israel, is perhaps the only high-profile Hamas terrorist still operating in Gaza. Most of the Hamas leadership had moved to a life of safety and luxury in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar.
Sinwar’s promotion comes at an inopportune time for the seasoned terrorist. Most of his lieutenants have been eliminated by the Israeli military since October 7, including Mohammed Deif, who was killed in last month’s airstrike.
Sinwar is believed to be hiding somewhere around Rafah and Khan Tunis area, a Hamas dominated region in southern Gaza. He and other Hamas terror commanders are using the remaining Israeli hostages as human shields as Israeli military combs the area, intelligence reports suggest.
The Associated Press reported the change at the helm of the Iran-backed terror group:
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Tuesday it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader.The choice of Sinwar, a secretive figure who leads Hamas’ hardliners and is close to Iran, was a defiant step. Sinwar is at the top of Israel’s kill list as it seeks to destroy Hamas and its leadership after the Oct. 7 attack in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 as hostages.Hamas said in a statement it named Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau to replace Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran last week in a presumed Israeli strike. Also last week, Israel said it had confirmed the death of the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a July airstrike in Gaza. Hamas has not confirmed his death.Unlike Haniyeh, who had lived in exile in Qatar for years, Sinwar has remained in Gaza. As Hamas’ leader in the territory since 2017, he rarely appeared in public but kept an iron grip on Hamas’ rule. Close to Deif and the armed wing, known as the Qassam Brigades, he worked to build up the group’s military capabilities.
With Iran-sponsored Hezbollah continuing to fire rockets and suicide drones into Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been taking out commanders and operatives waging the terrorist offensive from southern Lebanon.
After a Hezbollah missile killed 12 children on a soccer field in Golan Heights, Hezbollah has ramped up cross-border fire toward Israeli towns and cities.
At least 19 Israelis were reported injured when a Hezbollah drone hit the northern Israeli town of Nahariya.
“Nineteen people were injured Tuesday, one of them critically, after a Hezbollah drone attack on the Western Galilee. At least one of those injured was wounded as the result of an Iron Dome interceptor missile that malfunctioned, the Israel Defense Forces later said,” The Times of Israel reported. “The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated victims at three locations in the Nahariya area. One person was critically wounded, another person was listed in light-to-moderate condition, and others were lightly hurt, MDA said.”
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday eliminated the commander of Hezbollah’s Iranian-trained Rawan Force.
“Earlier this evening, the IAF operated in the area of Ebba in southern Lebanon in order to strike and eliminate the terrorist Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force,” the Israel military disclosed Monday night.
Hezbollah’s Rawan Force is an elite terrorist unit established by Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) and has been leading the offensive launched against Israel since October 7.
“His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization to promote and carry out terror activities from southern Lebanon against northern Israel,” the IDF disclosed.
Hezbollah on Tuesday admitted the killing of more terrorist fighters involved in attacks along Israel’s northern border.
Hezbollah names 4 operatives killed in alleged Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon,” i24NEWS reported Tuesday. “The Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah said its operatives Amin al-Din, Hussein Yassin, Ali al-Din, and Hassan Mansour were killed in Israeli strikes.”
President Joe Biden’s administration and other Western governments are ‘warning’ Israel not to ‘respond too strongly’ to any possible Iranian attack, Israeli media reports say.
“Officials in the US-led multinational coalition that is reportedly preparing to assist in repelling an expected Iranian attack have preemptively warned Israel not to respond too strongly to such an assault,’ The Times of Israel reported Tuesday, citing Israeli media sources.
Washington is telling Israel to fight with one hand tied behind its back as Iran threatens to launch its biggest direct attack on Israel since the Mullah regime grabbed power in Tehran 45 years ago.
In April, President Biden cynically told Israel to ‘take the win’ and not respond to Iran’s firing of hundreds of long-range missiles and drones toward the country. Israel was able to intercept almost all of the incoming projectiles with the help of the U.S. and Western allies.
Amid massive pressure from the Biden administration, Israel responded with limited strikes at Iranian terrorist and military sites — a move that only emboldened the Tehran regime.
The Times of Israel reports:
Officials in the US-led multinational coalition that is reportedly preparing to assist in repelling an expected Iranian attack have preemptively warned Israel not to respond too strongly to such an assault, according to a Tuesday report.“Don’t push it,” the unnamed officials told Jerusalem, according to Kan news. “Think carefully before you attack in return. The goal at the end of the day is not to lead to an all-out war.” (…)Kan reported on Monday that Western diplomats believe the same coalition can come together again.Iran said Monday Israel must be “punished” for Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran — allegedly by Israel — and has vowed to take action, raising worries that its response could bring the restive Middle East closer to all-out war. (…)The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials, reported that Iran has in recent days been moving missile launchers and carrying out military exercises, in a signal that it may be preparing to carry out an attack in the coming days.
The Biden administration is telling Israel to show restraint in the face of an impending large-scale attack a day after Iranian-backed terrorist militias attacked a U.S. military base in western Iraq, injuring several American servicemen.
The Associated Press reported Monday:
Several U.S. personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack at a military base in Iraq, U.S. defense officials said Monday, in what has been a recent uptick in strikes on American forces by Iranian-backed militias. (…)The U.S. defense officials said troops at al-Asad air base were still assessing the injuries and damage, and it appeared that as many as seven military troops and civilians were injured. Earlier Monday, Iraqi security officials confirmed the attack, but no group has claimed responsibility.
An Israeli airstrike over the weekend eliminated Jaber Aziz, a senior Hamas terrorist commander. Aziz was hiding in a Hamas command center build under two schools in northern Gaza.
On Sunday, “the IDF struck Hamas terrorists who operated in a Hamas command and control center that was embedded within the “Hassan Salame” and “Nasser” schools in Gaza City,” the Israeli military said in a press release Monday. “According to IDF and ISA intelligence, during the strike in the area of the “Hassan Salame” school, the terrorist Jaber Aziz, Commander of Hamas’ Al-Furqan Battalion, was eliminated along with additional terrorists.”
The IDF revealed the key role played by the slain terrorist commander:
Aziz has been the Commander of Hamas’ Al-Furqan Battalion since 2020. He was previously the Deputy Commander of the Al-Furqan Battalion, Deputy Commander of the Zaytun Battalion, and the Commander of the Zaytun Battalion.Aziz took a significant part in the planning of the October 7th massacre and led the preparations and training of the Al-Furqan Battalion. He also participated in the infiltration into communities near the Gaza Strip on October 7th.Throughout the war, he was responsible for directing and promoting numerous terror attacks against the IDF and the State of Israel. Aziz was a key operative in the war management of Hamas’ Gaza Brigade. His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization.
Israeli armed forces also eliminated Mohammed Mahasneh, head of Hamas’ weapons and equipment smuggling operation.
The Israeli Air Force “conducted an intelligence-based strike, eliminating the terrorist Mohammed Mahasneh, a Hamas commander responsible for smuggling operations, including the smuggling in and out of the Gaza Strip of military equipment used for terrorist activities,” the IDF disclosed in a press release Tuesday. “Mahasneh was primarily involved in smuggling operations at sea, but also operated to smuggle equipment through tunnels and border crossings. His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization to smuggle equipment into the Gaza Strip,” the military added.
The IDF took out Hamas’s so-called ‘Economy Minister,’ Abdel Fattah Al-Zeriei, who was responsible for arming the terrorist group and diverting humanitarian aid to jihad fighters.
The i24NEWS reported Monday:
An airstrike carried out by the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday killed Hamas’s economy minister in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the IDF spokesperson’s unit on Monday.Abdel Fattah Al-Zeriei, “a terrorist operative in the Manufacturing Department of Hamas’ Military Wing, who also served as Hamas’ Minister of Economy in the Gaza Strip,” was killed.”The Manufacturing Department operates to increase Hamas’ weapons capabilities, including by exchanging information with other terrorist organizations across the Middle East,” the IDF said.”Al-Zeriei had a significant role in directing Hamas’ efforts to seize control of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip and in managing Hamas-controlled markets. Furthermore, he was responsible for the distribution of fuel, gas, and funds for terrorist purposes.”
The military, on Tuesday, reported the details of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the Hams stronghold of Rafah:
IDF troops continue precise, intelligence-based operations in the Rafah area. Over the past day, the troops eliminated more than 25 terrorists. As part of IDF operational activity, the troops eliminated approximately ten terrorists who posed a threat to them, and the IAF struck multiple terror targets in the area. Additionally, an anti-tank missile was shot toward the troops. The IAF swiftly struck the structure from which the terrorist operated and eliminated him. No injuries were reported.
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