Deputy commander of Hamas killed in airstrike, says IDF

Tel Aviv, May 25 (IANS) A Deputy Commander of Hamas has been killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have announced.

The IDF in a statement on Friday night identified the killed Hamas commander as Tziad al-Din al-Sharfa.

The statement said that he was killed in an Israel air attack in central Gaza. The Israeli Army said the assassination of the senior Hamas leader was conducted through a joint operation between IDF, Shin Bet and Military Intelligence.

The 99 Infantry Division of the IDF led the operation and coordinated the attack on al-Sharafa, considered a key operative of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF is now specifically focusing on senior leaders of Hamas and is working on specific inputs from Shin Bet and Israel Military intelligence on the movement of senior Hamas group leaders.

In the statement, the IDF also said that it had assassinated Yusuf al-Shobaki who was heading the Industrial Security department of the Hamas militant group in Gaza. The Israeli Army in the statement said that he was killed a few days ago after receiving inputs from the internal security agency, Shin Bet.