The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has killed the leader of Hamas militants who infiltrated Southern Israel last Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis.
The IDF, in a tweet Saturday, identified the Hamas leader’s name as Ali Qadi.
It vowed that its military operation against Hamas will continue until they are completely taken down.
“Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel.
“We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate,” the IDF tweeted by its X page.
On Saturday, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas while repeating its earlier warning (with additional 6-hour window) that all Palestinians living in the north of Gaza should relocate southwards as it prepares to conduct a ground offensive.
Foreign media reports that tens of thousands of Palestinians have complied with the ultimatum and have already moved out of northern Gaza.
But the United Nations has maintained that a humanitarian disaster is likely to occur in Gaza and surrounding territories because it will be difficult for 1.1 million Palestinians living in northern Gaza to relocate southwards within the time frame.
Hamas had asked Palestinians to defy the Israeli ultimatum, with one of its spokesperson, Osama Hamdan, telling Aljazeera Saturday that the attack on Israel was a reaction to its occupation of Palestinian territory.
But the Israeli government insisted that its current offensive was “brought upon us” by Hamas.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack on Israel on Saturday, saying it was in response to the desecration of the al-Asqa mosque and the continuous occupation of parts of Jerusalem.
The escalation has caused deaths on both sides with over 2,000 lives lost on both sides of Israel and Palestine.
