Israel killed senior members of Hamas’s General Security Apparatus in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said in a joint statement.
The General Security Apparatus is a central and clandestine body responsible for securing senior Hamas officials, maintaining communications among them, and coordinating their meetings, the statement read.
Senior members of the apparatus are responsible for protecting Hamas leaders, facilitating their movement between emergency facilities, and producing intelligence assessments, including the collection of intelligence on Israeli forces, which assists the organization’s leadership in decision-making and in executing attacks against the State of Israel, the army and Shin Bet said.
Hassan Rabah Hassan Labad, deputy head of the General Security Apparatus and a central figure within the apparatus, was killed in the IDF strike.
The terrorists Asim Amin Shalash Shubair, Abdullah Ata Younes Abu Kaloub and Muhammad Naaman Zaki Abu Mark—serving in key roles within the apparatus—were also killed.
The IDF and Shin Bet stressed that steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
