Senior Hamas security official killed in Israeli strike

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday that a senior Hamas security official had been killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Aug. 22.

Mahmoud al-Aswad, who served as head of the terror group’s General Security Apparatus for the West Gaza area, was described by the IDF as a key figure and significant source of knowledge for the organization, emphasizing the importance of his elimination.

Meanwhile, troops on Wednesday continued operations in northern Gaza ahead of a major push into Gaza City, one of the last Hamas strongholds. Israeli forces were active in Jabaliya and on the outskirts of Gaza City, and in the southern Strip in the Khan Yunis area.

Additionally, the Israeli Navy directed the IAF to strike a maritime weapons storage facility and a maritime weapons repair site in the Khan Yunis area.

Troops have also been active over the past month in the central Strip, completing an operation to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and several tunnel routes, including one with several exit shafts, living quarters, food, weapons and other facilities. Israeli forces sealed the route by pumping concrete into it.

The 607th Engineering Battalion began operating in the Gaza Strip for the first time on Tuesday night, according to the IDF. The battalion, under the command of the Givati Brigade Combat Team, was established as part of lessons learned from the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and prolonged warfare in Gaza.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided against putting Hamas’s partial hostage-release deal on the agenda during the Security Cabinet meeting, insisting instead on a comprehensive agreement that sees all of the captives released and ends the war on Jerusalem’s terms.

Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza currently hold 50 hostages, of whom 20 are alive according to Israeli estimates.

Likud Knesset member Eli Dallal on Tuesday called for decisive government action after two years of fighting.

“Hamas is an ISIS-like, Nazi organization. Its entire goal is to destroy the State of Israel. Therefore, it does not consider the hostages,” he told JNS, adding that “Hamas must be destroyed and should not continue to exist under any circumstances.”

At the same time, opposition Yisrael Beiteinu lawmaker Evgeny Sova cautioned that Israel was heading into an uncertain stage of the war. “We are threatening to enter a prolonged campaign that no one knows how it will end, or whether it will truly advance the goals of the war,” he told JNS on Tuesday.

An Israeli official told JNS that any large-scale ground maneuver would face logistical hurdles. “It won’t be easy to move a million people in a short period of time,” he said, referring to plans to evacuate civilians from Gaza.

Still, the official noted, an expanded operation could increase pressure on Hamas to negotiate. “If the operation is approved, it may push the other side toward showing some willingness to engage,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump accused Hamas on Friday of extortion during the indirect hostage talks with Israel, saying he believes that it would be safer to free the captives through military pressure rather than through pursuing an agreement.

“The situation has to end. It’s extortion, and it has to end,” Trump told reporters during a press conference in the Oval Office. “I actually think they’re safer in many ways if you went in and you really went in fast.”

On Monday, Trump asserted that the fighting in Gaza would reach a “conclusive ending” in a matter of weeks.

A meeting is scheduled at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a comprehensive plan for the Gaza Strip following the Israel-Hamas war, according to Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.