Three Hamas leaders killed months ago, IDF says

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Israel's military has said that Rawhi Mushtaha, pictured here on the right, was killed earlier this year

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that, three months ago, it killed three senior Hamas leaders in Gaza.

Among them is Rawhi Mushtaha, identified by the IDF as the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, along with Sameh al-Siraj and Sami Oudeh, who were responsible for security in Hamas.

The IDF said they were hiding in an underground compound in northern Gaza and were killed by air strikes.

Israel said Hamas did not announce the deaths "in order to prevent loss of morale and functioning of its terror operatives".

In a statement, the IDF said Rawhi Mushtaha was "one of Hamas's most senior operatives and had a direct impact on decisions relating to Hamas's force deployment".

The deaths announced on Thursday add to the list of prominent Hamas leaders killed in the last year, since Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.

In August, the Israeli military said it shot dead Hamas's leader Wissam Khazem, during a major operation in the West Bank.

Separately, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in July. Iran blamed the incident on Israel, but Israeli officials did not claim it.

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) later said that Iran's missile attack on Israel on Tuesday was retaliation for what it called the "violation of Iran鈥檚 sovereignty and the martyrdom鈥 of Haniyeh.