ONE of Hamas’ final high-ranking terror bosses has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Izz al-Din Kassab was killed along with another Hamas official named Ayman Ayesh in an Israeli strike on their car in Khan Younis.
The Palestinian group confirmed the death of Kassab[/caption]
The IDF killed him in an airstrike on a car[/caption]
The car was wiped out[/caption]
Kassab was responsible for coordinating with other groups in the Gaza Strip.
Footage shared by the IDF showed the car driving along a dusty road before it was hit by a missile and blew up.
The IDF said that spy group Shin Bet had provided the intelligence to for the strike.
The IDF said: “Kassab was a significant source of power and, by virtue of his role, was responsible for the organization’s strategic and military relations with other factions in the Gaza Strip.
“He held the authority to direct the execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel.”
It comes after Hamas’ boss and the mastermind behind the horrific October 7 massacre Yahya Sinwar was killed.
The IDF released footage of Sinwar’s final moments, hunched over and wounded inside a bombed building in Gaza.
They also released images of Sinwar dead, with a bullet hole in his head.
Fearing his own death, Sinwar left the secret handwritten notes for Hamas fighters with directions about what to do with the remaining hostages.
The three-page dossier, published by the Palestinian paper Al-Quds, is claimed to be his final “wills” and “directives.”
Scribbled over the pages are instructions that ask Hamas captors guarding the hostages to “take care of the lives of enemy prisoners and secure them”, dubbing them “bargaining chips” to be used during peace talks.
A NEW DAWN FOR HAMAS?
Muhammad Sinwar, the slain terror chief’s brother, is being seen as the next possible successor to take over the terror outfit.
He became the de facto second-in-command of Hamas’ leadership in Gaza following the deaths of top Hamas military commanders, such as Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa.
Mohammed became a trusted confidant of Yahya, being one of the few people who knew where the Hamas boss was hiding during the war.
Israeli officials warned that Muhammad is as much of a hardliner as his brother, and could pose as a major obstacle in a potential hostage deal – especially after Israel killed his brother.
Grisha Yakubovich, a former senior Israeli military official and expert on Palestinian affairs, explained how Mohammed Sinwar’s rise to power poses a significant danger.
He told The Sun: “Mohammed Sinwar is just as radical, if not more, than Yahya Sinwar.
“If he takes over the leadership of Hamas, the situation could become significantly worse.”
Mohammed, though operating largely behind the scenes, is said to have earned a reputation for being ruthless and uncompromising.
Inside the twisted life of Yahya Sinwar
By Nick Parker, Foreign Editor
His life was saved twice by Israel – but the monster dubbed “The Hamas Bin Laden” repaid his sworn enemy by masterminding the October 7 horror.
Yahya Sinwar, 61, spent 22 years in an Israeli prison for terrorist murder and kidnap plots and spent every second honing his burning hatred for his captors.
His astonishing rise to the top of the Hamas terror tree came despite being sentenced to four life sentences in 1989 for planning the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers and the murder of four Palestinians he suspected of working with Israel.
The bearded beast’s life was first saved when he was cured of cancer by an operation in prison.
Then in 2011, he was freed, among 1,026 others, in a prisoner exchange for a single Israeli soldier in a deal that has been damned by his thousands of victims ever since.
Sinwar taught himself Hebrew and became fluent during his multiple stints as a caged man.
He began reading and studying every Israeli newspaper to probe the weak spots in his enemy’s armour.
The terror master’s deep knowledge of what makes Israelis tick led him to realise the power of the hostage-taking tactic now traumatising the strife-torn Jewish nation.
Yet despite his blood lust and bravado, the Hamas commander “cried like a baby” when he learned he had cancer, his jailer Lieutenant Betty Lahat has revealed.
