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In a major development in the ongoing Israeli counter-offensive against the deadly attack by Hamas, two big leaders of the terror group were eliminated by the Israeli Air Force on Tuesday.
The Israeli Air Force said in a statement that the minister of economy of Hamas, Jawad Abu Shamala, has been killed.
"As part of his role, he (Shamala) managed the funds in the organisation and earmarked the funds for financing and directing terrorism inside and outside the Gaza Strip. He previously held security positions in the terrorist organization and as part of his role led several operations aimed at harming civilians in the State of Israel," the Air Force said in a statement on X.
In another major elimination, Zakaria Abu Ma'amer, one of the senior members of the Political Bureau of Hamas was also eliminated by the Israeli Air Force. He was also the head of the Ministry of National Relations in the policy bureau of Hamas in Gaza,
"In his position, he was responsible for making decisions in Gaza, operating internal relations and coordinating between the organizations in Gaza...Abu Ma'amr was known to be a close associate of Yahya Sinwar and as part of his position, he did a lot of work to incite and act against the sovereignty of the State of Israel and endanger its residents. In addition, as part of his role, he belonged to the organisation's senior forum and thus was involved in the organization's decision-making and planning many outlines and actions against the security of the State of Israel," the Israeli Air Force said.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli Air Force launched an extensive attack against terror targets of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
As per the Israeli Air Force, the fighter jets attacked a number of terrorist targets of the terrorist organization Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip.
At least 900 Israelis were killed and over 2,616 people injured after Hamas launched a barbaric 'surprise attack' on Israel on October 7.
The IDF also took international journalists to Kfar Azza, a kibbutz close to the border where around 70 residents were slaughtered during the devastating attack by Hamas terrorists, Times of Israel reported.
"It's not a war, it's not a battlefield, it's a massacre," IDF Major General Itai Veruv said.
"You see the babies, their mothers and their fathers, in their bedrooms, and in their protected rooms, and how the terrorists killed them -- it's not a war," Times of Israel quoted Veruv as saying.
He added, "It's something that I never saw in my life...We used to imagine our grandmothers and grandfathers during the pogroms in Europe. It's not something that we have seen in recent history".
As part of its retaliation against Hamas, Israel has mobilised 3,00,000 troops in the last 48 hours. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari informed about the mobilisation and said the IDF "has never mobiliSed so many reservists so quickly -- 300,000 reservists in 48 hours.
IDF also said it had finally regained control over the border with the Gaza Strip, 72 hours after Hamas terrorists blew through sections of the barrier and launched an invasion that saw over 1,000 Israelis slaughtered or kidnapped.