The IDF, having endured a series of rejections by Hamas of extending the first phase of the hostages-for-criminals deal, finally had had enough, and on March 17, waves of IAF planes attacked Hamas targets in Gaza. Hamas claims that 404 people were killed, including “dozens of children,” and 600 were wounded. There is no reason to believe those figures, because Hamas has a long record of exaggerating the number of those killed. In addition, it does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but does supply the media with unproven claims that “most of the casualties are women and children.” These claims are uncritically repeated by that media. The IDF does not know exactly how many casualties there have been, and how many of those are civilians, and of those how many are women and children, and it will be weeks before it will come up with what it believes are more accurate estimates. The IDF is always at a disadvantage in the information wars with the practiced dissemblers of Hamas. As Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway round the world, while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
Among those killed, however, as announced by Hamas and confirmed by the IDF, were four of the six highest-ranking Hamas leaders. More on those high-value targets that have now been successfully eliminated as they were plotting, according to Israel, another surprise assault on the Jewish state can be found here: “IAF strikes in Gaza Strip kill four senior Hamas officials,” by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, March 18, 2025:
The IDF confirmed Tuesday evening that it has killed four out of six senior Hamas officials who the terror group itself have announced as being hit by IDF strikes.
It is possible that all six are dead, but Hamas sometimes spreads misinformation for a variety of strategic reasons, so the IDF does not confirm deaths of its senior officials until it obtains its own independent evidence (and even then there have been a few cases where the IDF wrongly announced having killed a Hamas official.)
The four were: Issam al-Da’alis, who has served as Hamas’s political Gazan prime minister, Mahmoud Abu Watfa, the director-general of Hamas’s Interior Ministry and related terror forces, Bahjat Abu Sultan, operational chief of Hamas’s internal security apparatus, and Hamas justice minister Ahmed Omar al-Hatta.
Hamas also said that senior officials Muhammad al-Jamasi and Yasir Herev were killed in IDF strikes, though the military has not yet confirmed those deaths.
Hamas has said that six of the most senior Hamas officials were killed. The IDF, ever cautious, is waiting for more information on Al-Jamasi and Herev before it will confirm their deaths.
Al-Da’alis was the most senior of the officials, but the most critical officials for Hamas at this stage are its military chief Muhammad Sinwar, brother of Yahya Sinwar, and one of the few remaining central planners of the October 7 invasion, and Khalil al-Haya, who was Yahya Sinwar’s political deputy and has been the lead Hamas negotiator on the hostages issue….
Israel has said it will continue to strike at Hamas until it agrees to an extension of the first part of the lopsided hostages-for-criminals deal. The IDF has announced that this is “not a one-day strike.” How long, do you think, do Yahya Sinwar and Khalil al-Haya have to live?
Hamas eulogized the “martyrs” saying: “As we mourn these leaders who have worked since the beginning of the war of extermination to alleviate the suffering of their people, faithfully shouldering the responsibility entrusted to them, and who have ascended after a journey filled with sacrifices and honorable stances—serving as exemplars of dedication and devotion to their work—we affirm that the loss of government leadership will not deter us from fulfilling our national duty toward our Palestinian people. We remain committed to our religious obligation and our ethical and professional role in serving them, supporting their resilience, and standing firm in the face of this brutal aggression.”
The only “war of extermination” in the region is that which had its opening salvo when 6,000 Hamas operatives smashed into Israel on October 7,2023 and proceeded to rape, torture, mutilate, and murder 1,200 Israelis — men, women, children, and babies. This was the opening salvo in what was to have been a war of extermination. Hamas would gladly have extended that war in time and space, until every last Jew in Israel was either killed or expelled. Unfortunately for Hamas, the people of Israel girded their loins, 360,000 Reservists showed up as one man to fight, and the war which lasted 16 months in its first phase — with Israel moving heaven and earth to warn civilians in Gaza away from sites about to be targeted — is now, it seems, after a two-month ceasefire, on again. This time the Israelis mean to completely crush Hamas.
Diplomatically, the American government, under new management, now has Israel’s back, and the Israelis are keenly aware of the Trump administration’s steadfast support. It was Donald Trump who, instead of following Biden and withholding weapons to force changes in the IDF’s operations, told Prime Minister Netanyahu to “do whatever you want” in Gaza. And the Israelis have kept Washington informed, in advance, of the latest bombing campaign in Gaza, with not the slightest objection being raised by the Americans. In fact, the American military are apparently coordinating their attacks on the Houthis with the IDF’s attacks in Gaza, keeping the Houthis on the defensive, unable to effectively respond to Israel, while waiting nervously for the next airstrikes on western Yemen by the Americans. Can you imagine that sort of military coordination with Israel happening under the Biden-Blinken dispensation? No, I can’t, either.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
This is good news. Hopefully, the IDF gets Mohammed Sinwar as well. Also, this time, take no prisoners, and massacre all the prisoners that were released in exchange for Israeli hostages. Another thing – given what we saw of normal Gazans whenever the hostages were being released, don’t treat the Gazans as civilians
In fact, I would support Israel totally leveling Gaza before resuming its search for the remaining hostages, or their bodies. From now on, no discussions w/ Hamas over bodies. Massacre everybody, and then invite President Trump to build the Riviera however he wants. Or maybe make Gaza a deportation center of everyone we are evicting from the US, before they are forwarded to their home countries
Zeenah says
GAZA as a “Deportan Center” sounds like a great idea!
ElderlyZionist says
“Hamas claims that 404 people were killed, including “dozens of children,” and 600 were wounded. There is no reason to believe those figures…”
I suspect that the IAF caught the Hamasniks sitting down to Iftar dinner with their families and friends, and blasted the lot of them. I’m okay with that. Roast In Pieces.
Walter Sieruk says
The “Strength of the Sword” is the only language that those liars murderers kidnapper, torturers and vile heinous rapist’s jihadists of Hamas are able to understand. For those dangerous death –inflecting Muslim terrorists of Hamas have no honor, at all, and cannot be reasoned with. For genuine honest negotiation with disingenuous and outright lying, malicious and vicious fiendish malice-filled Muslims terrorists of Hamas is impossible.
Therefore, Hamas needs to be taken down with a strong might of military force. Hamas hit hard, hit long and should keep on being blasted, taken down and not allowed to raise its ugly jihad head again.
Hamas is nothing a deadly plague of Islamic terrorism. Therefore, it should and needs to completely eliminated forever. It will then it will be “Good riddance to Bad Rubbish.” When it comes to Hamas it’s “Bad Rubbish” To the most extreme horrific and horrendously evil possible.
Walter Sieruk says
The Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is right when he declared that “Hamas must be destroyed.”
The reason why this is so is because when it comes to those brutal cruel vile heinous malicious and murderous jihadist savages of Hamas it’s “Either kill or be killed.”
So, Hamas needs to be hit long and hard and it should to hit with much military might and. struck great power repeatedly until it’s completely destroyed. As it had been also, rightly said “Half –measures is folly and madness.”
For the jihadists of Hamas will not respond to reason or logic , in others words, they cannot and will not be reasoned with. The only language that are able to understand is that of being the receiving end of a power of a great military might. As Thomas Jefferson had ,rightly ,written “With every barbarous people…force is law.”
Even the leftist US President Franklin D. Roosevelt with all liberal socialist had very wisely declared, “No compromise can end that conflict. There never has been—there never can be—successful compromise between good and evil. Only total victory can reward the champions of tolerance, and decency, and freedom, and faith.”
Prime Minister Benjamin had revealed knowledge and wisdom by his statement about the need to about the very important and necessary need to engage in the “Elimination of Hamas.”
somehistory says
Reading again and again that most of the dead are “women and children,” if True, would mean that mozlum males are delinquent in protecting their families.
Most of the illegal mozlums who invade other nations as ‘refugees,’ or “migrants,” are adult males. But they claim that the adult males are “minors,” and even enroll in schools (where they then rape the young girls).
But then, when Israel is fighting back, there are only “women and children” in harm’s way.
If that was a true statement, it’s because all of the adult males have invaded other countries and left their families to fend for themselves.
The lies of hamas certainly don’t make themselves look good.
Billy says
Israel must demolish Islam’s Mosques, Schools, Courts, etc. and deport all Muslims for their funding, teaching, and promotion of terrorism, discrimination, and violence from Islam’s Quran(Quran 9:5,29,111 and more).
Non-Muslims CANNOT have peace with Islam, a Terrorist-Criminal Enterprise, and its deceitful Muslims because Islam and its murderous god, Allah, demand a continuous Muslim war, a RELIGIOUS DUTY, against unbelievers where Non-Muslims are CRIMINALS under Islam due to illegal UNBELIEF and unlawful BLASPHEMY against Allah when despicable Allah in Qur’an 8:39 says, “And engage in war with them[Non-Muslims] until there will not be sedition and the religion will be completely to Allah…” HENCE, NON-MUSLIMS MUST MAKE ISLAM, ITS MOSQUES, ITS SCHOOLS, ITS COURTS, ETC. ILLEGAL UNDER THE LAW.
Similarly, Islam and its many Organizations must be identified and publicly declared to be MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS(MTO) for their funding, teaching, and support of terrorism, violence, and discrimination against Non-Muslims as taught in Islam’s Quran(eg. Quran 3:151; 9:5,29,111; 60:4; 98:6-7 and more).
Patrick says
Happy to see America and Israel hammering the Houthis and Hamas, I can’t think of a better, more prudent attack to dismantle Hamas and the Houthis. I love the coordination and the fervor, I’m also for wiping Hamas off the face of the earth, needs to be done with all Islamic terrorist organizations.
James Lincoln says
A medical analogy when dealing with Hamas:
When surgically removing a cancerous tumor, it’s important to leave a clear margin of normal tissue to confirm complete resection and decrease risk of recurrence.
James Lincoln says
A medical analogy when dealing with Hamas:
When surgically removing a cancerous tumor, it’s important to leave a clear margin of normal tissue to confirm complete resection and decrease risk of recurrence.
OLD GUY says
Islam needs to be sent back to the cave it crawled out of.
Stephen says
IDF have the right idea, whenever a muslim/hamas male pops his head up as a so called “commander” shoot it off, well done IDF ..
The average I.Q. of middle eastern men is 70 so they’ll keep coming, as soon as their ego gives them an ounce of (what they think is) operational abillity they’ll think they’re in charge, shout about it ,,,, Go IDF
Keeping them disorganised is the best way to root out the weapons stashed in hospitals, schools and behind “women & children” ..
The IDF has the intelligence ,, (the walkie talkie manover is a prime example)