Israeli military says it killed senior Hamas commander who held 1000 as hostage in Gaza

The Israeli military said it killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike, who was responsible for holding approximately 1,000 people and patients as hostages in a Gaza hospital and not allowing them to escape to their safety.

 

In a tweet posted on X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Ahmed Siam was a commander in Hamas's Naser Radwan Company and used civilians as human shields in terror attacks.

 

Meanwhile, Israel’s  Prime Minister Netanyahu has again rejected calls for a ceasefire. In a televised address, the Israeli Prime Minister said a ceasefire would only be possible if Gaza militants released all of the 239 hostages taken by Hamas. He said that after the war Gaza would be demilitarised and Israel would retain security control there with freedom to hunt down militants. 

Netanyahu also rejected the idea that the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers autonomous areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, would at some stage control Gaza. In the meantime, fighting near Shifa and other hospitals in northern Gaza has intensified and supplies have run out. 

The Israeli



military has alleged, without providing evidence, that Hamas has established command posts in and underneath hospitals, using civilians as human shields. Medical staff at Shifa have denied such claims and accused Israel of harming civilians with indiscriminate attacks. 

On the other hand, Israel has said there was no siege of Al-Shifa, and the east side of the hospital was open for the safe passage of those who wanted to leave. Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel would help those in the paediatrics department to get to a safer hospital.  However, staff inside Gaza's largest hospital have said patients and refugees are trapped in horrific conditions as heavy fighting rages in nearby streets.  Israel said it had clashed with Hamas nearby but not fired on the hospital. It said it would help to evacuate babies to a safer hospital today after medics said two had killed and 37 others were at risk.

As the humanitarian situation worsened, Gaza's border authority announced that the Rafah land crossing into Egypt would reopen today for foreign passport holders after being closed on Friday.