Palestinian terror organization Hamas revealed Tuesday on Telegram that an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip eliminated one of its highest-ranking commanders, Ayman Nofal.
Nofal, a senior military council member overseeing Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, held a rank equivalent to brigadier general.
As the world holds its breath ahead of an anticipated and costly ground incursion into Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces announced a large-scale invasion may no longer be necessary.
CNBC has the latest:
“We are preparing for the next stages of war. We haven’t said what they will be. Everybody’s talking about the ground offensive. It might be something different,” a spokesperson said.
Israel is on its 11th day of an aerial bombardment campaign of the Gaza Strip, over which it has ordered a total siege, cutting off water, food and electricity supplies to a population of 2 million people.
The siege, which human rights groups have criticized for breaking humanitarian law, comes in response to a brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. The death toll from the conflict so far has risen to at least 1,400 people killed in Israel and more than 2,700 people killed in Gaza. The Israeli government says that Hamas is holding at least 199 hostages kidnapped from Israel.
Israel’s Gaza evacuation order could amount to a crime of “forcible transfer” in breach of international law, according to a spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office.
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