The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday night it had killed the commander of Hamas’s naval forces in Khan Younis in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip, hours before the expected start of a temporary pause in the war amid a hostage release deal.
The army said Amar Abu Jalalah was killed along with another member of the Hamas naval forces. It said Jalalah was “a senior operative in Hamas’s naval forces and was involved in directing several terror attacks by sea that were thwarted.”
Ahead of the slated lull in fighting, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday that once the “short” temporary truce with Hamas ends, the military campaign would resume “with intensity” for at least two more months.
“What you will see in the coming days is first the release of hostages. This respite will be short,” Gallant told troops of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 elite commando unit. “What is required of you in this respite is to organize, get ready, investigate, resupply arms, and get ready to continue.”
“There will be a continuation, because we need to complete the victory and create the impetus for the next groups of hostages, who will only come back as a result of pressure,” he added. READ MORE