The “political leader” and chief Hamas terrorist Ismail Haniyeh was blown to pieces in a fresh strike on Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said.
Video footage of the blast showed the moment a bomb erupted over the leader’s Gaza pad.
According to Israel War Room’s X account, the home served as “terror infrastructure and contained a shaft leading to a Hamas terror tunnel”.
In a post, it added: “Haniyeh’s residence in Gaza, struck by IDF forces overnight, also served as a meeting point for Hamas’s senior leaders to direct terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.”
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Haniyeh is a Palestinian politician – and the chairman of Hamas’ political bureau.
Born in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip back in 1962, the terrorist currently resides in Qatar.
He is a significant figure in the ongoing war and has largely controlled Hamas since 2017, controlling the party’s political activities outside of Gaza.
The politician became leader after Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was assassinated in 2004 – though his time in office was not recognised by the international community as the group was considered a terror organisation by the likes of the US and European Union.
IDF itself took to Telegram to confirm its jets at struck the Gaza home of Haniyeh.
It said that alongside hitting the property it “struck terrorists and located weapons including explosive belts, explosive barrels, RPGS, anti-tank missiles, comms equipment and intelligence documents”.
The move comes as Israel’s president Isaac Herzog said his nation could not leave a vacuum in Gaza, and would have to ensure a huge military presence to halt Hamas’ possible reemergence.
According to the Financial Times, Herzog continued: “If we pull back, then who will take over? We can’t leave a vacuum.
“We have to think about what will be the mechanism; there are many ideas that are thrown in the air … But no one will want to turn this place, Gaza, into a terror base again.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, issued his own stark belief that Jerusalem would “for an indefinite period” have security responsibilities.
Elsewhere, the impact of the Israel-Hamas war continues to reverberate across the globe, with horrifying scenes erupting across the Atlantic in Washington.
Protestors demanding a ceasefire within the war took to the streets outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Capitol Hill.
Around 150 people were “illegally and violently protesting”, US Capitol Police said, with members of Congress evacuated from the building.
