Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip eliminated the head of the Hamas government and other key terrorist leaders in a wave of violence following the collapse of their ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces announced Tuesday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA), also known as Shin Bet, said in a joint statement that the airstrikes eliminated Essam al-Da’alis, head of the Hamas government and “the most senior figure of authority in the Gaza Strip.”
“Essam al-Da’alis replaced Rawhi Mushtaha in this position after he was eliminated in July 2024. In his role, al-Da’alis was responsible for the functioning of Hamas’ terror regime in the Gaza Strip and oversaw the integration of all of Hamas’ branches in Gaza and their use for terrorist purposes,” the statement said.
The IDF and ISA also determined with “high probability” that Israeli strikes eliminated Mahmoud Marzouk Ahmed Abu-Watfa, the Minister of Internal Affairs in charge of Hamas’ Internal Security Forces; Bahajat Hassan Mohammed Abu-Sultan, who served as Head of Hamas’ Internal Security Forces; and Ahmed Amar Abdullah Alhata, who served as Hamas’ Minister of Justice.
Over the past day, the IDF said it “struck dozens of terror targets and terrorists throughout the Gaza Strip, including mid-level and senior-ranking terrorists in Hamas’ Political Bureau.”
“The strikes were conducted to damage Hamas’ governmental and military capabilities, and to remove threats to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement said. “The IDF will continue to operate against the Hamas terrorist organization and remove any threat to the State of Israel.”
At least 404 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in the airstrikes so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The death toll has not been independently verified.
President Donald Trump’s administration backed Israel’s move to end the ceasefire in a statement on Monday.
“Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Brian Hughes told Fox News.
Israel will intensify its military actions against Hamas moving forward, authorities said.
“Under the direction of the political echelon, the IDF and Shin Bet are widely attacking terrorist targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, more details below,” the IDF and ISA said.
The IDF launched a series of preemptive strikes targeting mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization, an Israeli official told Fox News. The military offensive will continue as long as necessary, and will expand beyond air strikes, the official said.
Dozens of targets were chosen, based on Hamas readiness to execute terror attacks, and build up and re-arm its forces. Following a situational assessment by Katz and the IDF officials, a decision was made not to open up schools and educational activities in the Gaza Envelope, authorities said.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrikes came after Hamas “rejected all offers it received” from the Trump administration’s special envoy to the Mideast, Steve Witkoff, and the other mediators.
“Tonight, we returned to fighting in Gaza due to Hamas’ refusal to release the hostages and threats to harm IDF soldiers and Israeli communities,” Katz said. “If Hamas does not release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open in Gaza, and Hamas’ murderers and rapists will meet the IDF with forces they have never known before.”
He noted that Israel “will not stop fighting until all the hostages return home and all the war’s goals are achieved.”
The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and move toward the center of the territory after its airstrikes across the territory, suggesting that the military could launch renewed ground operations into Gaza.
In a statement, Hamas blamed Netanyahu “and the Nazi Zionist occupation fully responsible for the repercussions of the treacherous aggression on Gaza, and for the defenseless civilians and our besieged Palestinian people, who are subjected to a brutal war and a systematic policy of starvation.”
The terror group called for the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to urgently convene to adopt a resolution demanding Israel halt military operations and fully withdraw from Gaza and for Muslim nations to back Palestinian resistance.
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Hamas has insisted on sticking with the original terms of the deal, with Israel fully withdrawing from Gaza and agreeing to permanently end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages.
Netanyahu has long insisted that Israel will not end the war until Hamas’ governing and military capabilities have been destroyed.
The strikes come after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month-long war where dozens of hostages were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, Israeli forces launched airstrikes in Gaza, southern Lebanon and southern Syria. The IDF said it was targeting terrorists plotting attacks.
Fox News’ Nick Rojas and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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