Israeli Air Strike Destroys Gaza Building Allegedly Housing Hamas Chief’s Brother

The Israeli military said it killed the brother of the current leader of Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that attacked Israel on Saturday, in an airstrike today.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck five residential buildings in the Gaza Strip that it said were used by Hamas members.

One of the buildings, according to the statement, was used by the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. It is assumed that Muhammad Sinwar was inside the building at the time.

The Israeli military released a video showing the moment of the strike.

Aerial footage over Gaza, captured by a bomber, showed the building in its crosshairs as smoke and rubble billowed in all directions.

The images then showed several other buildings attacked in the same way.

Given the scale of the explosions, it is difficult to imagine that anyone inside or in the immediate vicinity of the building could survive such force.

In these attacks, the IDF said it also hit a “monitoring room that monitored and tracked IDF activities,” according to the Times of Israel.

The military said two Hamas operatives were in the situation room at the time of the attack.

In a statement, the Israeli military said: “Following the air force attacks, warplanes attacked five houses used by members of the Hamas terrorist organization, among which were the houses of a member of the “Nakhba” (commando), a member of the army. in the resistance committee and in an operational house of the terrorist organization Hamas, where Yahya Sinwar’s brother allegedly resided.

Yahya Sinwar is the current Palestinian leader of Hamas in Gaza, having succeeded Ismail Haniyeh in February 2017.

He is among Israel’s most wanted people, along with Ismail Haniyeh – a senior Hamas political leader, and Mohammed Deif – the supreme military commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing.

Deif is suspected of orchestrating Saturday’s brutal attack, in which Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,300 Israeli men, women and children.

According to a May 2022 Times of Israel article, Muhammad Sinwar was also a senior commander in Hamas’ military wing.

The article reported that Muhammad Sinwar said at the time that the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas a year earlier had established new ground rules under which rocket attacks on cities in Israel’s heartland since Gaza was becoming more viable.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they struck five residential buildings in the Gaza Strip that they said were used by Hamas operatives (photo)

One of the buildings, according to the statement, was used by the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (photo, file photo). It is believed that Muhammad Sinwar was inside the building.

The war, also known as the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian crisis, saw Hamas fire rockets into Israel and the IDF respond with intense bombardment.

While more than 250 Palestinians and 14 Israelis were killed, the destruction pales in comparison to the conflict sparked by the Hamas attack on Saturday.

“For us, firing rockets at Tel Aviv is easier than drinking water,” Muhammad Sinwar said at the time.

Israel is now preparing for a ground attack on Gaza, with the aim of eradicating Hamas. Before that, they said they were targeting Hamas leaders.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces are “preparing for a ground maneuver” if political leaders order one.

Of the ongoing airstrikes, he said: “At the moment we are focused on eliminating their senior leaders. Not only the military leaders, but also the government leaders, all the way up to (Hamas’s top leader, Yehia) Sinwar.

In total, the Israeli military said it attacked more than 750 “military targets” in Gaza alone last night, with images showing swaths of neighborhoods destroyed.

The strikes came before Israel gave northern Gaza’s 1.1 million residents 24 hours to evacuate ahead of the expected ground attack.

The announcement was made today, Friday, as the Israeli army assembles its troops near the border with the Gaza Strip.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said: “The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. »

He added: “The United Nations strongly calls for such an order, if confirmed, to be rescinded to avoid what could turn what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. »

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday: “It is time for war.”

Palestinian citizens inspect the damage caused to their homes by Israeli airstrikes on October 13

Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 13.

His words come days after the deadliest attack ever by Palestinian militants on Israel.

Israel said it had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza since Saturday.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 1,500 Palestinians died, a third of them children, and 6,600 people were injured.

The Israeli government has officially declared war on Hamas and green-lighted “significant military measures” to retaliate against the organization following last Saturday’s surprise attack that left 1,200 people dead in Israel.