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Ismail Barhoum, a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau, was killed late on March 23 in a daring Israeli strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Initially, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had targeted a “key Hamas terrorist” inside the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. In a joint statement with the Shin Bet security agency, the military said that the strike was carried out following “an extensive intelligence-gathering process” and using “precision munition.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed soon later that the IDF “successfully eliminated” Barhoum in the strike on Nasser Hospital.
Katz hailed the IDF and Shin Bet for the strike on Barhoum, who he said was “the new Hamas prime minister in Gaza, who replaced Issam Da’alis, the previous prime minister who was eliminated a few days ago.”
Barhoum was a prominent member of Hamas’s political bureau and had been reportedly involved in financial activities for the group.
Following Katz’s announcement, Hamas acknowledged that Barhoum was killed. In a statement, the group said that the senior official was killed undergoing treatment at Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli pinpoint strike on Nasser Hospital was caught on the live coverage of both Al Jazeera and BBC Arabic. Palestinian health officials revealed that the strike killed two people, Barhoum and a 16-year-old boy who had recently undergone surgery.
Out of the 20 members of Hamas’s political bureau elected in 2021, 11 have been assassinated during the war in Gaza, and seven are either certainly or highly likely to be outside Gaza.
Many senior military commanders of Hamas have also been assassinated since the IDF resumed its offensive on Gaza last week.
Earlier on March 23, the IDF said that Ahmad Salman ‘Awj Shimali, the deputy commander of the Gaza City Brigade, and Jamil Omar Jamil Wadiya, the commander of the brigade’s Shejaiya Battalion, were killed in airstrikes in recent days. The military did not detail where or when they were killed.
According to the IDF, Shimali was “responsible for operations, planning the offensive strategy and building the brigade’s force in preparation for Hamas’s brutal massacre on October 7, [2023],” and during the war, he was responsible for the deployment of the brigade’s force.
Wadiya took over the Shejaiya Battalion after his predecessors were killed in December 2023, according to the army. On December 2, 2023, the IDF killed Shejaiya Battalion commander Wissam Farhat and, a week later, it killed his replacement Emad Qariqa.
“Wadiya was responsible for deploying the battalion’s forces against IDF troops and operated to restore and reorganize the battalion,” the military said.
The statement added that Wadiya was also involved in a 2011 anti-tank missile attack on an Israeli school bus driving near the Gaza border. The attack killed 16-year-old Daniel Viflic.
In addition, Palestinian media reported early on March 24 that overnight strikes had also killed Manar Abu Khater, director of education at the eastern Khan Younis education directorate for the Strip’s Hamas government, among others.
Since resuming operations on March 18, Israeli troops have reoccupied key areas in the north, center and south of Gaza. More than 700 Palestinians, including women and children, have also been killed in the renewed offensive so far.
With Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions showing no resistance whatsoever, Israel appears to be preparing to further widen its operations in the Strip.
Following the assassination of Barhoum, Katz said that the ongoing offensive against Hamas was “expanding,” vowing that Israel would continue its strikes until the 59 hostages still held by the group in Gaza are released.
Separately, the IDF announced that the 36th Division, which spent months in the north and took part in a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, was redeployed to the Southern Command and had begun preparations for military operations in Gaza.
Only the Gaza Division and 252nd Reserve Division are currently carrying out operations inside the Strip. The deployment of the 36th Division would add thousands of more troops to the offensive.
All in all, more than a year of intense fighting have apparently exhausted Hamas. With over 50,000 Palestinians killed and most of Gaza destroyed, a political settlement seems to be the group’s best bet.
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