ALBAWABA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a standing order to target senior Hamas officials, his office confirmed on Saturday.
The Israeli Air Force attacked many places in Khan Younis with strong airstrikes. The declared goal of the strikes, which claimed hundreds of Palestinian civilian lives, was to neutralize Hamas' military wing commander, Muhammad Deif, of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
According to Israeli army radio, Deif was thought to be sheltering in an above-ground building in a humanitarian area to the west of Khan Younis. The attacks also had Rafah Salama, the Khan Younis Brigade commander, as their target.
The Israeli military carried out a massive bombing campaign. Numerous combat aircraft were sent into action, releasing many tons of bombs. The Israeli military defended the large-scale bloody attack as collateral damage in their attempts to target Hamas leadership, despite the fact that it caused severe losses among civilians.
To yet, no video footage nor comments from Hamas have surfaced indicating the organization's leaders being targeted.
