Israeli army says it destroyed home of Hamas political chief in Gaza strike

Israeli army says it destroyed home of Hamas political chief in Gaza strike
Israel says it has destroyed the home of Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas’s political wing in the Gaza Strip, as the death toll from Israeli air strikes reached 174
2 min read
The death toll from Israeli air strikes reached 174 on Sunday [AFP]

Air strikes hit the home of Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas' political wing in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Sunday, but without saying if he was killed.

"Among the targets struck are the residences of Yahya Sinwar, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau in Gaza, as well as of his brother, Muhammad Sinwar, Head of Logistics and Manpower for Hamas," Israel's army said in a statement, releasing a video showing plumes of smoke and intense damage.

"Both residences served as military infrastructure for the Hamas terror organisation," the statement claimed.

Witnesses confirmed to AFP that a strike had hit Sinwar's house.

Sinwar, a former commander of Hamas's military branch, served more than two decades in an Israeli jail before he was released in 2011 as a part of a prisoner exchange.

First elected as the head of Hamas's political wing in Gaza in 2017, he was re-elected in March, extending his tenure as the movement's de facto leader in the Palestinian enclave, which has been under a crippling Israeli siege since 2007.

Hamas overall chief Ismail Haniyeh is currently based in Qatar.

The Israeli army said it had also carried out strikes targeting Hamas tunnel systems.

More than 174 Palestinians, including 47 children have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Over 1,200 people have been wounded.

On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a tower in the Gaza where international media organizations, including Al-Jazeera and the Associated Press were based.

Hamas began launching rockets at Israel on Monday after Israeli security forces assaulted Palestinian worshippers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, injuring hundreds.

The Israeli army says that Palestinian armed groups have launched 2,900 rockets towards Israel since Monday, claiming that Israel’s Iron Dome defence system has intercepted 1,150 of them.

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