Israel kills two Hamas commanders as it vows to eliminate group

Ali Qadi and Murad Abu Murad were the latest military officials in the Palestinian group targeted as Gaza death toll rises above 2,200

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. AP

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A Hamas military commander who led the attack against Israel was killed by an Israeli air strike on Saturday, its military said, as it prepared for an expected ground invasion of Gaza.

Ali Qadi was killed in Gaza, the Israeli army said. Hamas has not confirmed his death.

It comes after Murad Abu Murad, who reportedly managed the “aerial activity” of Hamas, was killed in a strike on one of the group’s headquarters on Friday night, according to the Israeli military.

Israel declared war on the Palestinian militant group on Monday, following a deadly attack in which 1,300 Israelis were killed.

Two members of Hamas’ political office, Zakaria Abu Maamar and Jawad Abu Shammala, were killed on Tuesday in an air strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The brother of the leader of Hamas’ military wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, was also killed in Khan Younis on Tuesday.

The Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa Channel said Mohammed Deif's brother, nephew and niece were killed in the strike. It is not known if Mr Deif was the intended target.

Mr Deif has survived seven assassination attempts, the most recent in 2021, and never appears in public.

His wife and two of his children were killed in an Israeli air strike in 2014.

A relative carries the body of one of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif's sons at the funeral after he was killed in Israeli air strikes in August 2014. Reuters

Senior commanders on target list

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “crush” Hamas, while Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel planned to wipe the group “off the face of the earth”.

“Hamas is ISIS – and just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed. And Hamas should be treated exactly the way ISIS was treated,” Mr Netanyahu said.

Israel has also vowed to kill Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, who it says is responsible for planning last week’s attacks.

“Yahya Sinwar is the commander of the campaign, and he is a dead man,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli military.

Mr Sinwar spent 22 years in an Israeli prison for killing two Israeli soldiers.

Another senior target is Saleh Aruri, who heads the Al Qassam Brigades in the occupied West Bank.

Hamas’ overall leader Ismail Haniyeh is based outside Gaza and so may be difficult for Israel to target.

He visited Tehran in June for a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, alongside the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad Al Nakhalah.

Mr Nakhalah reportedly lives in Beirut and may also be an Israeli target.

More than 2,200 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli air strikes and shelling in the past week.

Israel said it had dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza over six days.

Conditions in the besieged and densely populated Gaza strip are dire, with the UN warning of a humanitarian catastrophe amid shortages of food, water and fuel.

A medic carries a Palestinian child injured during Israeli air strikes into a hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

A man walks past images of Israeli hostages snatched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last week in a surprise attack into Israel, plastered on a wall outside the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv. AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at the airport en route to neighbouring Israel for crisis talks after a tour of Arab nations, in Amman. AFP

An Israeli soldier adjusts his rifle as he stands on a tank near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel. Reuters

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid destined for Gaza wait for the reopening of the Rafah border, in the city of Egyptian city of Al Arish. Reuters

Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Reuters

Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react after several colleagues were killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Reuters

US citizens wait at the port of Haifa to be evacuated to Cyprus, amid the battle between Israel and Hamas. AFP

Paramedics from the Emergency Medical Services, the only health organisation that is operational in Sderot, Israel, pray before starting work. EPA

Israeli soldiers patrol in armoured personnel carriers at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. AFP

People rally in support of Israel outside the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, Colorado. AP

Children in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images

Residents of Gaza City evacuate as Israel continues bombing of the Gaza strip. EPA

Protesters participate in a rally in support of Palestinian people, on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil. EPA

A Palestinian house razed by Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip on October 15. Reuters

A man rearranges Jewish prayer books after a synagogue was hit by a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip into Ashkelon, southern Israel. Reuters

Volunteers clean up at the synagogue in Ashkelon. Reuters

Laden aid lorries wait for the opening of the Gaza-Egypt border in North Sinai, Egypt. Getty Images

Injured Palestinians arrive at Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, an enclave sealed off by Israel and hit by sustained retaliatory air strikes after the surprise Hamas attack. Getty Images

Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel by the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. EPA

Palestinians sit by a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza. AP

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid to Palestine line up on the desert road from Cairo, heading for the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. Reuters

Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. AP

Palestinian children wounded in Israeli air strikes are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir El Balah, Gaza. AP

Palestinians charge their phones using solar power as electricity supplies remain cut off in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Reuters

Palestinians wounded in Israeli air strikes are carried into Al Aqsa hospital in Deir El Balah, Gaza. AP Photo

Palestinians queue to refill water containers at Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. AFP

Palestinians attend to the wounded after Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. Reuters

Residents carry a few belongings as they begin to evacuate following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza Strip. EPA

Internally displaced Palestinians take refuge at a UN school, in the Rafah refugee camp, in the south of the Gaza Strip. AFP

A wounded boy is rescued from the rubble after Israeli air strikes, in Khan Younis. Reuters

An area with destroyed buildings is deserted after residents of Gaza city began to evacuate. EPA

Palestinians in Khan Younis search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes. Reuters

Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip was bombed by Israeli forces in retaliation for last week's incursion by Hamas into Israel. Reuters

Khan Younis is in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than a million people in the north have been urged to travel by Israel as it carries out an anticipated ground invasion.

Palestinians search for casualties in Khan Younis. More than 1,500 people have been killed and injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past week. Reuters

A rescue worker searches for casualties under the rubble of a building in Khan Younis. Reuters

A mourner grieves for a relative killed by an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP

Palestinians evacuate a wounded youth after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP

Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Israeli ground forces prepare to enter the Strip. AP

Palestinians have formed convoys to flee northern Gaza. AP

Traffic queues as Palestinians flee northern Gaza for the south. AP

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. AP