The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike targeting three Hamas commanders who had moved their operations to the humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said on September 10. Hours later, the IDF stated another strike targeted the commander of Hamas’ Tel al-Sultan Battalion, which is part of the Rafah Brigade. These airstrikes are among other recent operations aimed at eliminating Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their remaining command-and-control centers in Gaza.
The IDF has targeted Hamas commanders consistently after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. When the war began, the group had an estimated 30,000 fighters in 24 battalions, divided into 140 companies. By January, the IDF assessed it had killed 50 Hamas company commanders, 19 battalion commanders, and two brigade commanders. By July, the IDF assessed it had eliminated 150 company commanders, 20 battalion commanders, and six brigade commanders, along with approximately 14,000 Hamas fighters. By August, the total fighters eliminated increased to 17,000, but some of Hamas’s command and control centers remain functional, even after those unprecedented losses.
Based on recent IDF strikes, the remnants of Hamas’s command and control centers appear to be concentrated in schools, mosques, and areas within the humanitarian zone. Others are in Khan Younis and the central camps area around Deir al-Balah, with some likely in northern Gaza, as well.
The humanitarian zone is on the coast west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. It was established in October, before Israel’s ground offensive, when the IDF first called on civilians to move to this zone. The humanitarian zone remained relatively free from airstrikes until the IDF carried out a strike targeting Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif in July. Deif had gone to the humanitarian zone to meet Rafa Salama, Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade commander. Both were killed in the strike. In late August, the IDF called on some civilians to leave an area of the humanitarian zone adjacent to Deir al-Balah because of the presence of Hamas and the IDF’s desire to operate there.
It is within this context that the IDF carried out the strike overnight between September 9 and 10 that targeted several Hamas commanders in the humanitarian zone. The IDF said intelligence indicated Hamas was operating a “command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis. Among the terrorists struck was Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, Head of Hamas’ Aerial Unit in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, the terrorist Osama Tabesh, Head of the Observation and Targets Department in Hamas’ Military Intelligence Headquarters, and Ayman Mabhouh, another senior Hamas terrorist, were struck during the operation.”
The IDF said the commanders were “directly involved in the execution of the October 7th Massacre and have been recently operating to carry out terror activities against the IDF and the State of Israel.” After the airstrike, Hamas authorities in Gaza claimed 40 people had been killed, but later revised this number to 19 deaths. The IDF has accused Hamas of spreading false and inflated death toll figures.
Hours after the strike in the humanitarian zone, the IDF carried out another strike on a Hamas commander. “In the strike, the commander of Hamas’ Tel al-Sultan Battalion, Mahmoud Hamdan, and three additional company commanders from the battalion were eliminated,” the IDF stated. Footage published by the IDF showed both strikes.
In another operation targeting a Hamas command-and-control center, the Israeli Air Force hit a mosque in Bureij in central Gaza. “The command and control center was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and conduct terrorist activities against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the IDF said.
The three strikes against three different aspects of Hamas’s command and control illustrate the IDF’s current tactics in Gaza. The IDF controls two corridors governing movement in Gaza and is seeking to target what remains of the group’s leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas no longer exists as a military structure. It has been ground down into smaller parts, significantly reducing its capabilities. It remains to be seen if this situation continues or if Hamas can replace some of the commanders and structure it has lost in Gaza.
