Israel Defense Forces targeted Hamas leaders in an airstrike in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza that the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said killed 71 and injured 300.
Health Ministry officials did not say how many casualties are civilians or members of the military wing of Hamas, which the United States designated a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
IDF officials said they targeted Mohammed Deif, who leads the Hamas military’s Qassam Brigades and is accused of planning the Oct. 7 attacks that killed about 1,200 Israeli civilians and resulted in the kidnapping of 250.
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The IDF also targeted Rafe Salama, who is the Hamas leader of the Khan Younis brigade. Ignoring international pressure to end its war on Hamas before achieving previously stated goals of eliminating those responsible for coordinating the Oct. 7 attack enabled the airstrike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told media yesterday.
“At the beginning of the war, I set a principle; The Hamas murderers are dead men,” Netanyahu said. “From the first to the last, we will bring them to justice.” Eliminating the Hamas leaders is one of the Israel’s goals in the conflict, he said.