Senior Hamas leader killed in Israeli airstrikes
Israel managed to claim the life of one of its sought after targets after a missile hit the home of Hamas’s senior leader on Thursday. The air attacks from Israel have claimed up to four hundred Palestinian lives since the offensive was initiated.
The man killed in the attack was Nizar Rayyan. He was regarded as being one of the most hard line political leaders of the party. He was particularly known for calling for the revival of suicide attacks inside Israel. His death was confirmed along with two of his wives and seven of his children.
The death of Nizar saw supporters of Hamas come out on the streets and vowing take revenge as they saw the mangled bodies lying on the floor. Ayman Taha an official for Hamas said “The blood of Sheikh Nizar Rayyan and the blood of other martyrs will never be wasted and the enemy will pay a heavy price for the crimes it has committed.”
Rayyan served as a preacher at the “mosque of martyrs” in Jabalya and was known for advocating suicide bombing in theory and practice. The hard line militant would always be armed and was often seen patrolling the streets of Gaza along with other fighters.
Hamas leaders knew very well that they were being targeted by the Israeli air strikes. Many of them had left their homes after receiving clear warnings. Forty nine year old Rayyan however refused to evacuate his home as declared by Hamas radio which led to his eventual demise.
Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said “I think that even now, after a few days of operation we have achieved changes, we affected most of the infrastructure of terror within the Gaza Strip and the question whether it’s enough will be according to an assessment on a daily basis.”
Thursday night the Jabalya mosque was brought down to the ground by Israeli air strikes who claimed that the mosque was being used as a meeting place and a command post for the militant group. There were big explosions at the site of the mosque which indicated that the place was also being used as a storage place for rockets and other fire power. The Israeli forces are ready and waiting at the Gaza frontier for a possible ground operation to begin anytime soon.
