Israel Gaza: US reports death of senior Hamas military leader Marwan Issa

BBC News:

Hamas leader Marwan Issa died in an Israeli air strike, White House official Jake Sullivan has said.

As deputy military commander, Mr Issa would be Hamas’s most senior leader to die since the war began on 7 October.

The Palestinian group, which controls Gaza, has not officially commented on reports of his death.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden held a high-stakes call with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, about the war’s direction.

Israeli media sources have reported that Mr Issa was killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a tunnel complex under the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza a week ago.

The deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was considered one of Israel’s most-wanted men. The European Union, which placed the Hamas leader on its terrorist blacklist, linked him directly to the 7 October attack led by the group which killed approximately 1,200 people and sparked the war.