The Israeli Defense Forces on Sunday said it had eliminated Hamas' naval commander Ramzi Ramadan Abd Ali Saleh in northern Gaza, along with other members of the Palestinian militant group.
Israel said that Ali Saleh was a significant source of knowledge within Hamas, adding that he was also recently involved in "planning and advancing maritime terrorist attacks against IDF troops operating in Gaza".
Along with the Hamas naval force commander, the Israeli forces also took out the deputy head of the militant group's mortar shell array cell, Hisham Ayman Atiya Mansour. A terrorist of the array cell, Nissim Muhammad Suleiman Abu Sabha, was also eliminated in the Israeli strike.
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The naval commander of Hamas was killed in the strike on a cafe, in which the militant group-linked authorities reportedly said 24 persons lost their lives.
Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks
This development comes as an Israeli delegation left for Qatar for talks on a possible ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, an official said.
{{/usCountry}}This development comes as an Israeli delegation left for Qatar for talks on a possible ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, an official said.
{{/usCountry}}Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting public pressure to secure a permanent ceasefire and bring an end to the war in Gaza.
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Hamas had said last week that it responded to a US-backed Gaza truce deal in a "positive spirit", a statement which came just days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalise" a 60-day truce.
However, Netanyahu's office had said that the changes sought by the Palestinian militant group to the ceasefire proposal were "not acceptable to Israel".
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The fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by the latter's unprecedented attack on Jerusalem on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people and 251 people being taken hostage.
Of the 251 hostages, 49 are still held in Gaza, and of them only 20 are believed to be alive.
According to Gaza's health ministry, Israel's retaliatory strikes have killed more than 57,000 Palestinians. They have resulted in over half the population's displacement, a hunger crisis, and the destruction of the territory.