- Written by Phil McCausland
- BBC News, New York
White House official Jake Sullivan announced that Hamas leader Marwan Issa was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
As deputy military commander, Issa becomes the most senior Hamas leader to die since the war began on October 7.
The Palestinian group that controls Gaza has not publicly commented on reports of his death.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden had a high-stakes phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the direction of the war.
Israeli media sources reported that Issa was killed a week ago in an Israeli airstrike that targeted tunnel facilities beneath the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The deputy commander of the Hamas military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was considered one of Israel's most wanted men. The European Union has put the Hamas leader on its terrorist blacklist, directly linking him to the group-led Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people and sparked a war.
He was imprisoned by Israel for five years during the First Palestinian Intifada and was held by the Palestinian Authority from 1997 until the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000.
Israeli forces have killed numerous Hamas leaders since October 7. Hamas political leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an explosion in Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut. Israel is widely believed to be responsible for the attack.
Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said other Hamas leaders were also believed to be hiding “deep within the Hamas tunnel system” in the Gaza Strip.
He promised that the United States would support Israel as it continues its search for Hamas' leader, adding: “There will be justice for them.”
But while he noted Israel's numerous military successes against Hamas since the war began, President Biden expressed growing alarm over the rising number of civilian deaths in a phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He also emphasized that he had done so.
Sullivan said the president reiterated his commitment to Israel and Israel's “right to go after Hamas,” but also said it would be a “mistake” for Israeli forces to invade Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is home to an estimated 1 million people. Stated. Refugees fled during the war.
The US national security adviser told reporters that the invasion would “cause further deaths of innocent civilians, exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen anarchy in Gaza, and threaten the international It will further isolate Israel.”
More than 31,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed since the war began on October 7, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry. The death toll has drawn international condemnation and alienated many of Israel's allies.
Sullivan said that during the phone call, President Biden asked Netanyahu for a “clear and strategic endgame” on Gaza.
“The president simply told the prime minister today that he shares the goal of defeating Hamas, but believes we need a coherent and sustainable strategy to achieve it.”
Biden told Israeli leaders he would send a “senior interagency team of military, intelligence, and humanitarian officials” to Washington in the coming days to discuss U.S. concerns over the Rafah invasion. I was able to get him to agree.
Sullivan said Israel is expected to delay the attack until that meeting takes place.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the call on X (formerly Twitter), saying the two sides “discussed the latest developments in the war and Israel's goals in the conflict.”
The Israeli Prime Minister stated that these goals include “removing Hamas, releasing all hostages, ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, and providing the necessary humanitarian assistance to help achieve these goals.” This includes “providing.''
Prior to Biden's phone call, senior U.S. Democratic Party leaders had stepped up their criticism of Netanyahu.
On Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel, saying Netanyahu was putting his “political survival” ahead of the country's needs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party responded by saying that Israel is not a “banana republic” and that his policies are “supported by the vast majority.”
Biden told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that Schumer's remarks were expected. But the president said the Senate majority leader “expressed serious concerns that he and many Americans share.”