With Hamas threatening to intensify terrorist attacks on Israel during Ramadan, the Israel Defense Forces targeted Gaza-based terrorist group’s number 3 leader, Marwan Issa. The senior Hamas terror operative was targeted in an airstrike over the weekend, and the Israeli military was still assessing the success of the operation, the IDF disclosed on Monday.

“The IDF confirmed Monday evening that it struck an underground facility used by senior Hamas commander Marwan Issa and another top official in the terrorist organization,” the Israeli news website YNET reported. “The army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said that they were still assessing the outcomes of the overnight Sunday strike and waiting on a final confirmation of Issa’s death.”

Approved for release: Arch-terrorist Marwan Issa, Hamas no. 3, was targeted Saturday night in an underground complex in Nuseirat. The @IDF has yet to get final confirmation of his elimination alongside other senior #Hamas terrorists.
Beyond the obvious reasons to target the… pic.twitter.com/UcyQrjGzyR

— Lt. Col. (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) March 11, 2024

The targeted senior Hamas operative is among the planners of the October 7 attacks, the IDF revealed. “Marwan Issa, deputy of Mohammad Deif and one of the planners of the Oct. 7 Massacre, was targeted in a joint operation with the ISA on an underground compound,” the Israeli military said in statement late night Monday. “We are still assessing the results of the strike and will inform the public of them when we are certain.”

The IDF “will continue to pursue Hamas leaders and everyone involved in the Oct. 7 Massacre, not only in Gaza,” the official statement added.

Detailing Issa’s role within the terrorist group, The Times of Israel reported:

As deputy head of Hamas’s military wing, Marwan Issa has long been an elusive target for Israel, and the airstrike early Sunday morning that left both the IDF and Hamas probing his fate was the culmination of extensive efforts by the IDF to eliminate the senior terror commander.

Nicknamed the “Shadow Man” due to his ability to stay off Israel’s radar, the 59-year-old Gazan has played a significant role in a long string of terror attacks, starting from the time of the First Intifada and up to the massacre of some 1,200 people and kidnapping of 253 others in southern Israel on October 7 in the shock terror assault that left Israel reeling.

Due to the nature of his role as deputy head of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, making him second-in-command to the military wing’s leader Muhammed Deif, Issa is “essentially Hamas chief of staff,” former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told Channel 12 news on Monday evening.

The targeted strike on Hamas number 3 comes two months after an alleged Israeli drone strike that killed the terrorist group’s deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, in Lebanon. If confirmed, the elimination of Issa will incur a major blow to Hamas’s terrorist fighting force in Gaza. According the newspaper Israel Hayom, he is “considered one of Hamas’s sharpest minds, leading its transition from terrorist cells to an organized military with a command structure and brigades.”

IDF releases footage of strike which aimed to take out #Hamas deputy military commander Marwan Issa. #Israel is still assessing his status. pic.twitter.com/3NqdkpI2ph

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) March 11, 2024

IDF hit over 4,500 Hezbollah terror targets since Oct 7

The IDF targeted thousands of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon amid growing terrorist buildup along Israel’s northern border. Closed to 90,000 Israeli civilians have been forced to leave their homes in the north due to relentless Hezbollah rocket and mortar fire from southern Lebanon, figures released in early February show.

With Iranian proxy terrorist group escalating cross-border attacks, Israel was “edging closer to war with Hezbollah,” the Jerusalem Post noted Tuesday.

The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported the IDF’s response to Hezbollah aggression:

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have conducted over 4,500 strikes on Hezbollah targets since the beginning of the conflict on October 7, resulting in the deaths of more than 300 operatives, including five senior commanders, the IDF said on Tuesday.

Amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which commenced on October 7, the IDF has primarily targeted Hezbollah locations in Lebanon but has also conducted strikes in Syria. According to IDF estimates, approximately 750 Hezbollah members have been wounded in these operations.

Over the past five months, the IDF’s Northern Command has led aerial strikes on more than 1,200 targets, complemented by ground operations utilizing artillery and tanks, targeting an additional 3,100 sites.

The IDF’s strikes have focused on various Hezbollah assets, including weapons depots, buildings utilized for terrorist activities, observation posts along the border, command centers housing terror operatives, rocket launching positions, and squads executing anti-tank missile attacks.

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