The White House says Hamas No. 3 leader Marwan Issa was killed in an Israeli air strike.
His death was announced by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at a news conference Monday.
Sharing the details of President Joe Biden’s call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sullivan said the two leaders discussed the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, and they spoke about the state of Israel’s military operations.
“Israel has made significant progress against Hamas. They’ve broken a significant number of Hamas battalions, killed thousands of Hamas fighters, including senior commanders,” he told reporters.
The top US security official said Marwan Issa was killed in an Israeli operation last week. The rest of the top leaders are in hiding, likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network. “And justice will come for them too, and we are helping to ensure that”.
The deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, he is said to have played a significant role in planning the deadly October 7 cross border attack on Israel, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
One of Israel’s most wanted militants, he was seriously wounded but survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2006.
Sullivan said the Israeli government is now talking about launching a major military operation in Rafah, and President Biden explained why he is so deeply concerned about its repercussions.
More than a million people have currently taken refuge in Rafah. They fled from Gaza City to Khan Younis and then to Rafah, and have nowhere else to go. Gaza’s other major cities have largely been destroyed.
Sullivan said Israel has not presented to the U.S. Government or the world a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians, let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation.
He expressed concern if an invasion of Rafah would shut down a primary entry point for humanitarian assistance into Gaza from Egypt and from Israel.
The Biden administration has made its position clear that a major ground operation in Rafah would be a mistake. It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen the anarchy in Gaza, and further isolate Israel internationally.
On the call Monday, President Biden asked Netanyahu to send a senior inter-agency team composed of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials to Washington to hear U.S. concerns about Israel’s current Rafah planning and to lay out an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion.
The Israeli Prime Minister agreed that he would send a team to Washington for talks, according to Sullivan.
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