One of the high-ranking commanders of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Ahmed Akhandur, has been unreachable since Saturday, November 11, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The publication specifies that Akhandur is the commander of the northern division of Hamas forces in the Gaza sector and is one of the prominent figures in the military wing of the organization. According to Haaretz, Akhandur’s condition is “unknown”.
On November 14, the Palestinian radical organization Hamas declared that they were in control of the situation in the Gaza sector.
On the same day, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated that following their operation in the Gaza sector, Israel managed to take control of government buildings that were previously under Hamas control.
The situation in the Middle East has escalated since thousands of Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli territory from the Gaza sector on October 7, when Hamas announced the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country is in a state of war.
The objective of Israel’s counter-operation, named “Iron Swords”, was to repel the attack, free over 200 hostages, including foreigners, and destroy Hamas. From the first day of the operation, Israel conducted massive missile strikes on the Gaza sector. Additionally, the Israeli National Security Council decided to halt the supply of water, food, goods, electricity, and fuel to the sector. Humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza only resumed after October 20 through the Rafah checkpoint, although the volume of aid is considered insufficient.
On October 27, Israel announced the “expansion” of its ground operation in Gaza. The exact start date of this operation is unknown, but prior to it, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had evacuated their homes and sought shelter in the enclave’s south.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had vowed to destroy Hamas.
