Top Hamas military leader possibly killed in Israeli strike on Gaza that left 5 dead
A top Hamas military chief dubbed “the “Shadow Man’’ may have died in an airstrike, Israel said Monday — as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the terrorists’ remaining leaders are “dead men walking.”
Israel is investigating whether Marwan Issa, Hamas’ elusive second-highest military commander, was killed when an Israel Defense Force airstrike hit the Al-Nusseirat camp in central Gaza on Saturday night, according to Israeli Army Radio.
Five people were reported killed in the attack, and Israel believes Issa, 59, was one of them, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
If killed, Issa, suspected to be one of the masterminds behind Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, would be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist terror group taken out by Israel since the war began.
Known as the “Shadow Man” because he has long avoided the public spotlight, Issa had only been spotted in one photograph back in 2011 standing next to Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier who was taken hostage by Hamas for five years, the Telegraph said.
Issa remained hidden even when Palestinian media reported the death of his son, Muhammad, during the Gaza conflict in December — and when the IDF raided his extravagant vacation home in central Gaza.
He has been the target of several previous IDF strikes, with his home hit three times, including during the 2021 conflict. If Issa’s death is confirmed, it could complicate ongoing talks to secure a cease-fire deal in Gaza, with the negotiations resuming after falling apart last week.
As Hamas deputy military commander, Issa is effectively the third-highest ranking member of the terror group in Gaza, behind only military chief Mohammed Deif and political head Yahya Sinwar, both who have proven to be more elusive than even the “Shadow Man.”
Touting the IDF’s recent airstrikes, Netanyahu said in a video statement on X on Monday that Israel has already killed Hamas’ “number four,” apparently referring to Saleh al-Arouri, who was taken out by an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon in January.
“We already eliminated number four in Hamas. Three, two, and one are on the way,” he said. “They are all dead men. We will reach them all,” he added.
Sinwar and Dief’s location remain unclear, but the IDF has long contended that the top Hamas officials are hiding somewhere in the terror group’s 300-mile long tunnel system.
Last month, footage surfaced of Sinwar racing through one of the tunnel systems with his family just days after the October massacre, with the IDF vowing to capture the Hamas head “dead or alive.”
Some have speculated that Sinwar fled south from his Khan Younis home and is hiding among Hamas’ last remaining battalions in Rafah, where about 1.4 million refugees have taken shelter.
With Post wires
