Hamas announced that a senior commander who was in charge of northern Gaza was killed in the war.
Ahmed al-Ghandour was a member of Hamas’ top military council as well as the highest-ranking militant to be killed in the war, according to The Associated Press.
Al-Ghandour was believed to be around 56 years old, the AP reported. He reportedly survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life.
The Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington said, according to the AP, that he was part of a cross-border attack in 2006. The attack involved Palestinian militants who captured an Israeli soldier.
According to Hamas, he was among three other senior militants who were killed. One of the other three was in charge of Hamas’ rocket-firing unit named Ayman Siam, the AP reported.
The Israeli military in a statement earlier this month said that it was targeting an underground area where Hamas leaders were believed to be hiding. Both men were mentioned in the statement, according to the AP. The Israeli military reportedly also accused Hamas of concealing the deaths of the men.
The Israel Defense Forces did not confirm that SIam and Ghandour were killed aside from them being targets, the Times of Israel reported, according to The New York Times. They confirmed that Ghandour, Siam, Rajab, Salman, and Farsan Khalifa, another senior member were killed after Hamas’ announcement.