Israel Kills Hamas' Top Commander Marwan Issa, US NSA Jake Sullivan Confirms

Washington DC – US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Monday confirmed the reports that Israel has killed the top Hamas commander amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. While speaking to reporters at a regular press briefing, Sullivan stated that Israel has made  “significant progress” against Hamas and has managed to break battalions and kill thousands of fighters in the Gaza region, Fox News reported. Among the thousands of fighters, Sullivan noted that Hamas' top commander Marwan Issa was also killed in the operation conducted by Israel last week.

"The rest of the top leaders are in hiding, likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network, and justice will come for them too," Sullivan told the reporters at the press briefing on Monday. With this, the US National Security advisor became the first American government official to confirm Issa's death. It is pertinent to note that Sullivan's comments on the matter came hours after Israeli forces launched a raid at the al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The authorities accused Hamas militants of using the hospital as their base. The Israel Defence Force (IDF) mentioned that they had killed Faiq Mabhouh, Hamas’ top official in internal security. However, they also informed that an IDF soldier was killed during the operation. 

US accuses Hamas of Instigating Israel

During the presser, Sullivan emphasised that it “was clear” that Hamas fighters were firing back at Israel troops from the hospital. "We have seen Hamas over the course of this conflict use civilian facilities, including hospitals, to store weapons for command and control and to house fighters," Sullivan said. “And that places an added burden on Israel that very few militaries have to deal with, an entrenched insurgency, using the shield of civilian institutions to protect themselves during a fight, rather than meeting Israel on some open field to battle,” he added. The IDF raided the same hospital back in November. 

Sullivan's comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on Monday to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss the matter with Biden administration officials. "We've arrived at a point where each side has been making clear to the other its perspective," Sullivan noted. The US official also noted that US President Joe Biden had a conversation with Netanyahu in which he questioned the Israeli leader over a lack of a "coherent and sustainable strategy' to defeat Hamas. However, after the call, the Israeli premier released a statement in which he did not indicate any sort of tension between the two leaders. 

"We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel's commitment to achieving all of the war's goals: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never (again) constitutes a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals," Netanyahu said.