The IDF and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) struck and killed several senior members of Hamas' General Security Apparatus in the Gaza Strip overnight, a clandestine group which is responsible for protecting and assisting Hamas leadership.
The General Security Apparatus' responsibilities include maintaining communication and coordination between Hamas leaders, protecting them and escorting them to emergency facilities, and collecting intelligence and guiding the leadership in decision-making.
Among the terrorists killed in the IDF strikes was the Deputy Head of the General Security Apparatus, Hassan Rabah Hassan Labad, as well as the senior officials Asim Amin Shalash Shubair, Abdullah Ata Younes Abu Kaloub, and Muhammad Naaman Zaki Abu Mark.
Labad, the IDF stated, was a central decision-maker in the organization.
General Security Apparatus posed immediate threat, IDF says
"The senior members of the General Security Apparatus were eliminated in order to remove an immediate threat, after recently engaging in efforts to rebuild the Hamas terrorist organization and assisting its leadership in advancing terrorist activity against the State of Israel and IDF troops," the IDF said.
The IDF also stated that, prior to the strikes, steps had been taken to reduce and mitigate the potential threat to civilians, including through the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
Earlier, health officials from the Hamas-run Gazan health ministry had announced that Israeli strikes killed at least 10 Palestinians, including five members of the same family, in separate attacks in the Gaza Strip.
Medics in Gaza said Israeli aircraft struck four apartments before dawn, including the family's home, killing nine people and wounding at least 15.
Later on Thursday, a separate airstrike killed one person and wounded others near Wehda Street in Gaza City, medics said, taking the day's death toll to at least 10.