JERUSALEM — The Israeli army said Tuesday that it had killed Marwan Issa, deputy leader of the armed wing of Hamas, in a strike earlier this month.
He was “eliminated in a precise strike two weeks ago by the air force based on intelligence from the Shin Bet,” the Israeli internal security agency, said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.
He described Issa as “one of the organisers of the Oct 7 massacre”, and the most senior member of the Palestinian group killed since the war in Gaza began.
The White House announced that Issa had been killed during a press conference on March 18, but Israel had not confirmed his death until now.
The Israeli military had previously said they had targeted Issa in an air strike on an underground compound in central Gaza on March 9-10.
Issa was the deputy of Mohammed Deif, who heads Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Rear Admiral Hagari said at the time.
But Hagari said then that it was unclear if Issa had been killed in the operation, adding: “We are still examining the results of the strike, and final confirmation has yet to be received.” — AFP
