Five Hamas leaders were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat citing two Hamas sources.
The attack took place last week targeting a complex southwest of Gaza City, located above a tunnel where the five were residing. The airstrike caused the collapse of the underground structure.
Two of the targeted officials were from Hamas’s political bureau, Rawhi Moushtaha and Samah Asrag.
Moushtaha was considered a close confidant of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s top leader in Gaza. Together, they founded Majd, Hamas’s first security service, in the late 1980s, responsible for tracking and executing Palestinians accused of spying for Israel.
Moushtaha was also responsible for coordinating between Hamas and Egyptian security officials, including operating the Rafah border crossing, according to Reuters.
The three other targeted individuals were also members of the Al-Qassam Brigade, Hamas’s military wing. They have been identified as Abed al-Hadi Siam, an intelligence officer and commander of Hamas’s Nukhba naval commandos; Sami Uda, a senior official in the organization’s security network; and Mohammed Hadid, the head of the rocket battalion in the Gaza City area.
