An Israeli airstrike killed three senior commanders of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in southern Gaza early Thursday morning.
Mohammed Abu Shamaleh, Mohammed Barhoum, and Raed al-Attar died in the attack near Rafah. Three other people were killed and dozens are trapped in the rubble of a four-story building.
Abu Shamala was the head of Al-Qassam’s Southern Command, in which Barhoum served. Al-Attar was commander of Rafah.
Video of the attack:
On Tuesday night Israel tried to assassinate Hamas senior commander Mohammad Deif, killing his wife and 7-month-old son in a strike on a house in Gaza City. Hamas denied Deif was slain, although some Israeli officials spoke of the possibility.
The latest attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to pursue the 44-day war. He said in a news conference:
Only the guarantee of the safety of Israeli citizens and therefore I will continue to operate with firmness and insistence. Operation Protective Edge is not finished, not for a minute, we are talking about a continued campaign…..
We will continue until the goal is reached….Who says we gave up on the option of toppling Hamas?”
Netanyahu also claimed, in response to criticism inside and outside Israel that he has isolated West Jerusalem with his approach to the conflict, “Amid the feeling of dramatic changes that are taking place in the region, I can also add, that there is a new diplomatic horizon for the State of Israel.”
Talks between Israel and Palestine were suspended on Tuesday, following the collapse of a temporary ceasefire.
At least 2,035 Gazans have been killed in the war. Israel has lost 64 troops, and two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker were slain by Gazan rockets.
(Featured Photo: Aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on Rafah — Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
