The IDF and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency (ISA) have dealt a significant blow to Hamas, announcing, three months late, that they had killed the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, as well as two other top officials of the Sunni organization.

The IDF and the ISA announced on Thursday that, approximately three months ago, a joint attack by the Israel Defense Forces and the ISA in the Gaza Strip killed the following terrorists: Raohi Mustaha, the head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip , Sameh al-Shiraj, who held the security portfolio in the Hamas Politburo and the Hamas Working Committee, and Sami Udeh, commander of Hamas’s General Security Mechanism.

“During a precision strike based on IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF (Air Force) fighter jets struck and killed the terrorists while they were hiding in
a fortified and equipped underground area in the northern Gaza Strip. The compound served as a command and control center for Hamas and allowed senior officials to remain inside it for extended periods of time,” the statement said.

“After the strike on the compound and the elimination of the terrorists, Hamas did not announce their deaths as it did after previous exterminations, in order to prevent the loss of morale and operation of its terrorists” it is clarified.

Among other things, Mustaha was one of the most senior Hamas officials and had a direct impact on decisions regarding the development of Hamas’s power. He also previously held the finance portfolio.

“The IDF and ISA will continue to pursue all terrorists responsible for the October 7 massacre and will act against anyone who threatens the State of Israel,” the statement read.