The chief of the military wing of Hamas, a radical Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the besieged Palestinian territory, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Wednesday.
Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari and another senior Hamas leader were killed after their car was hit by the Israeli airstrike in the center of Gaza City. Television footage showed a completely wrecked car and people trying to extinguish the fire caused by the airstrike.
Israeli military said the airstrike was part of a wider military operation targeting Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza strip. The operation was aimed at limiting the rocket-firing capabilities of the militant groups.
Israel's Shin Bet security service said it was responsible for the airstrike that killed al-Jabari, who has been involved in "all terrorist activities against Israel from Gaza" in the last ten years.
"Jabari was responsible for financing and directing military operations and attacks against Israel. His elimination today is a message to Hamas officials in Gaza that if they continue promoting terrorism against Israel, they will be hurt," the Shin Bet said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Hamas condemned the Israeli airstrike that killed al-Jabari, saying that Israel "had opened the gates of hell" with its latest military action. Hamas spokesperson Abu Zuhri said in a statement that the group would ensure that "Israel will regret the moment they even thought of doing this."
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority, which governs the other Palestinian territory of West Bank, denounced al-Jabari's killing "in the strongest terms". PA spokesperson Saeb Erekat said his government holds "Israel fully responsible for the consequences of this new act of aggression."
Incidentally, 46-year-old al-Jabari is the highest ranking Hamas 0fficial to be killed in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip since Israel's three-week-long invasion of the Palestinian territory in December 2008. It is estimated that at least 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in that conflict.
Many fear that Wednesday's airstrike might trigger an escalation in cross-border violence between Hamas and Israel. Notably, Wednesday's Israeli airstrike came after Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip fired a volley of rockets into southern Israel in recent days.
Israeli holds Hamas responsible for cross-border rocket attacks by militants in the Palestinian territory and responds harshly to such action by pounding suspected militant targets in the Palestinian territory with airstrikes and artillery shells.
The Jewish State has been imposing a blockade on Gaza ever since Hamas came to power in the Palestinian territory in June 2007, ousting the secularist Fatah party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel recently eased its land blockade of the coastal strip, but still continues with its naval blockade and insists it will continue to ban or restrict shipments of materials that could have military uses.
Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist organization due to its refusal to give up violence and recognize the Jewish nation. They refuse to engage in negotiations with Hamas, and prefer to channel aid to Palestinians through the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank.
Notably, Hamas was not involved in the direct peace negotiations that resumed in Washington in September 2010 between Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders after a two-year gap. The U.S.-brokered peace talks are presently deadlocked over Israel's refusal to extend a construction freeze in the West Bank after it expired on September 26, 2010.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.