(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Hamas leader Marwan Issa died in an Israeli air strike, White House official Jake Sullivan has said.
As deputy military commander, Mr Issa would be Hamas’s most senior leader to die since the war began on 7 October.
The Palestinian group, which controls Gaza, has not officially commented on reports of his death.
Israeli media sources have reported that Mr Issa was killed in a strike on a tunnel complex under the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza last week.
The deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing – the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was considered one of Israel’s most-wanted men. The European Union, which placed the Hamas leader on its terrorist blacklist, linked him directly to the 7 October attack led by the group which killed approximately 1,200 people.
