Gaza: IDF Eliminates Top Hamas Planner Salah al-Bardawil, ‘Encircles’ Terrorist Stronghold in Rafah
An Israeli drone strike eliminated senior Hamas terrorist Salah al-Bardawil, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday. Bardawil, who was chief of the Gaza-based terror group’s overall “strategic and military” planning, was killed while hiding in a tent in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.
The IDF strike is the latest in the series of targeted elimination of Hamas’ top terrorist leadership, which began earlier this week after the jihadist group rejected a U.S. ceasefire proposal.
Bardawil’s elimination is a major blow to Hamas as it reignites the conflict with Israel. “Bardawil served as a senior terrorist in Hamas’ political bureau, and as part of his role, directed the strategic and military planning of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a press release Sunday. “This elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities.”
Israel also reportedly eliminated Muhammad Hassan al-Amour, a close confidant of Hamas’s slain terror chief Yahya Sinwar. “Muhammad Hassan al-Amour, an aide to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, was also killed in overnight Israeli strikes on Gaza,” the Israeli news website YNET reported Sunday. The IDF is yet to confirm al-Amour’s killing.
The IDF was carrying out widespread military operations across Gaza. Israel “troops dismantled terrorist infrastructure and rocket launchers and eliminated dozens of terrorists,” the Israeli news website Arutz Sheva reported Sunday. “At the same time, fighter jets, aircraft, and naval vessels of the IAF and the Israeli Navy continue to strike targets and provide support to the ground forces.”
The IDF on Sunday evening took out two more Hamas commanders with long terrorist track-record, including involvement in October 7 massacre.
The Arutz Sheva reported in separate article :
In these strikes, the IDF and ISA eliminated the deputy commander of Hamas’ Gaza Brigade, the terrorist Ahmad Salman ‘Awj Shimali. Shimali was responsible for operations, planning the offensive strategy, and building the brigade’s force in preparation for Hamas’s brutal massacre on October 7.The IDF noted that during the war, Shimali was responsible for the deployment of the Gaza Brigade’s forces.Additionally, the commander of Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion, Jamil Omar Jamil Wadiya, was also eliminated. For most of the war, Wadiya led the battalion after replacing the terrorist Wessam Farhat, who was eliminated in December 2023.According to the IDF, Wadiya was responsible for deploying the battalion’s forces against IDF troops and operated to restore and reorganize the battalion. Moreover, Wadiya was involved in the anti-tank missile attack on a yellow school bus in April 2011, in which 16-year-old Daniel Viflic was murdered.
IDF ‘encircles’ key Hamas terror stronghold in Rafah
As part of the ongoing Gaza operation, the IDF on Sunday ‘encircled’ Tel al-Sultan, the southernmost area of Rafah.
“Over the past hours, IDF troops operated and concluded the encirclement of Tel al-Sultan in Rafah,” the military disclosed. “The purpose of the activity is to dismantle terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area, in order to reinforce control and expand the security zone in southern Gaza.”
“During the night, the troops encircled the area, eliminated several terrorists, and conducted a targeted raid on a terror infrastructure site that was used over the past few months as a command and control center of Hamas terrorists,” the IDF added.
Noting the strategic importance of the area for Hamas, the Jerusalem Post reported that “Tel Sultan is in western Rafah, somewhat closer to the Mediterranean coastline. Tel Sultan is where the IDF killed former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, was the center of Hamas resistance in Rafah in the summer of 2024, and a location where many hostages were kept, including six who were executed by Hamas.”
The Israeli military was facilitating the evacuation of civilians from the area. “The Israel Defense Forces issued an “urgent” and immediate evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip’s Rafah on Sunday,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS confirmed.
The Times of Israel reported Bardawil’s elimination and ongoing IDF operation:
An Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip late Saturday killed Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardawil, the military and the Palestinian terror group confirmed Sunday.Bardawil was a well-known member of the terror group’s political wing who gave media interviews over the years. (…)Bardawil was the third Hamas political official to have been killed in renewed Israeli airstrikes. The terror group’s de facto government head Issam Da’alis and internal security chief Mahmoud Abu Watfa were killed on Tuesday, along with several other officials.Many other members of the politburo were killed earlier in the fighting, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly saying that one of the main aims of the war is to destroy Hamas both as a military and a governing entity. The war was sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. (…)The military said the offensive there was aimed at destroying Hamas’s infrastructure and expanding a buffer zone along the border.During the operation, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck several Hamas targets in the area.
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