BREAKING NEWS Hamas chief 'who masterminded October 7 attack' is killed by Israeli airstrike, IDF say
The Hamas chief allegedly behind the attacks on October 7 has been killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
In a post on X, the IDF reported that it 'eliminated' Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa - 'one of the founders of Hamas' military wing' in a targeted airstrike on the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza.
'Issa led Hamas' force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre,' the post said. 'As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial & naval attacks against Israelis.
'The IDF & ISA will continue to locate and eliminate all terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre,' they added.
The post on X is accompanied by a picture of Al-Issa and claims he is 'one of the last remaining senior Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
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Telegraph
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Hamas tortures Gaza civilians while world distracted
The face of the young man staring into the camera as the crowd streams around him is strong and defiant. In his hands, the 26-year-old holds a banner bearing an incendiary message: ' Hamas does not represent us.' An accompanying video shows him spurring on others, openly fanning the flames of dissent while many of the people around him nervously avert their faces to avoid being identified on camera. That man is Ahmed al-Masri, one of the key organisers in northern Gaza of the protests that rocked the enclave in April and May. This week, pictures emerged of the same man on a stretcher, a frightened and helpless look in his eyes, his legs a bloodied mess. According to multiple sources who spoke to The Telegraph, Mr Al-Masri was abducted by Hamas gunmen in Beit Lahia, near the northern border with Israel, whereupon he was brutally tortured. His feet were deliberately broken with large stones and iron crowbars; he was also shot in the legs. The atrocity is part of an escalating wave of bloodshed unleashed by Hamas against the ordinary Gazans it purports to represent. As the terror group faces an unprecedented squeeze on its military and economic strength by Israel's grinding campaign, it is turning to ever crueller methods to keep control of an increasingly desperate population. Khaled Abu Toameh, a lecturer and expert on Palestinian affairs, said: 'After the protests of the last few months, they began executing and arresting people in order to intimidate the population and to terrorise. 'I think it's working. After a certain point, the protests disappeared.' In recent weeks, reports have multiplied of people being dragged out of aid lines, tortured in basements, or simply executed in broad daylight. One video, published gleefully by Hamas-affiliated social media accounts, showed masked figures using a long metal pole to smash a blindfolded man's kneecaps. 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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
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BBC News
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