Head of Hamas’s Air Force killed in airstrike: Israeli Defence Forces

Israeli Air Force said that Murad Abu Murad "was largely responsible for directing terrorists during the massacre on Saturday."

Tel Aviv: The Israel Air Forces has said that it has killed the head of Hamas’s Air Force Murad Abu Murad in the airstrike carried out overnight. The strike targeted a headquarters from which Hamas managed its aerial activity in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Air Force said that Murad Abu Murad “was largely responsible for directing terrorists during the massacre on Saturday.”

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In a post on X, the Israeli Air Force stated, “Also, during the last day, fighter jets of the Air Force attacked the operational headquarters of the terrorist organization Hamas, from where the organization’s aerial activities were managed. During the attack, Murad Abu Murad, the head of the air formation in Gaza City who took a large part and directed terrorists in the murderous attack on Saturday, was killed.”

In separate strikes carried out overnight, the Israeli Air Forces said that it had struck dozens of sites belonging to Hamas’s commando forces, who led the infiltration into Israel on October 7, The Times of Israel reported. The Israeli Air Forces said that the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli Air Forces will continue to operate “as required in order to defend the State of Israel against the Hamas terrorist organization.”

In a post shared on X, the Israeli Air Force stated, “Last night, IAF fighter jets conducted wide-scale strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. These included dozens of Hamas terror targets as well as “Nukhba” terrorist operatives that were in a staging ground in the Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli Air Force in another update on X informed, “A short while ago, IDF soldiers identified a terrorist cell which attempted to infiltrate from Lebanon into Israeli territory. An IAF UAV targeted the terrorist cell and killed a number of the terrorists.”

In the latest update on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Israeli Defence Forces Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus noted on Saturday that people in the Gaza Strip are listening to Israel’s warning and are doing the right thing, noting that there has been a significant movement of Palestinian civilians towards the South.

“We have seen a significant movement of the Palestinian civilians towards the south…we have seen people listening to our warning, understanding that they doing the clever thing, moving out of the dangerous area, and the right thing for their family…,” he said.

On Friday the Israeli military had called for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza City. The IDF says that it had advertised its intentions as it did not want civilians to be affected by the war. The IDF further said that Israel was fighting against Hamas and its military infrastructure.

“We advertised our intentions in advance not because it has any military logic but because we want civilians not to be affected by the war. We didn’t put those civilians there and they are not our enemy. We are not trying to kill or injure any civilians, we are fighting against Hamas and its military infrastructure…that’s where we targeted around the Gaza strip and in the northern part of the Gaza strip,” he said.

Conricus highlighted that the end state of this war is the complete destruction of Hamas and its infrastructure. “We dismantle Hamas and its military capabilities and fundamentally change the situation so that Hamas never again has the ability to inflict any damage on Israeli civilians or soldiers,” the IDF spokesperson said.

The Israeli defence forces have said that more than 120 civilians have been held captive in Gaza by Hamas.