Number 3 eliminated

The hunt for the “living dead” of Hamas

Sinwar is a founding member of Hamas' military arm, the Qassam Brigades. His goal: the destruction of Israel.

(Bild: APA/AFP/MOHAMMED ABED)

The number three and four of Hamas are dead - hunted down and "eliminated" by Israel's military on the way to "absolute victory" over the Palestinian terrorist organization. Also among those targeted is Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar, whom the army leadership had declared a "dead man walking". An overview of the living and dead heads of the terror brigades who are and were on Israel's hit list.

Ever since the bloody attack on Israel last October, the hunt for the Hamas leadership has been on - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been tirelessly emphasizing that he does not want to rest until the entire leadership is wiped out. He is now one step closer to this goal: on Monday, the USA confirmed that the number three of Hamas had been killed in an Israeli military operation.

At the beginning of January, Hamas' number four was "eliminated" in a "surgical strike" - a drone attack in the south of the Lebanese city of Beirut. That leaves number two and one. But they too are "on their way", Netanyahu had reiterated in a video message the previous week: "They are all dead men, we will get them all."

He was referring to the "living dead" on the Israeli hit list - headed by a man who had already spent two decades in Israeli custody, where his life had even been saved due to a life-threatening brain tumor - by Israel.