Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened on Tuesday to target senior Hamas leaders based outside the Gaza Strip, stressing that they remain on Israel’s “target list”. The statement came hours after Izz al-Din al-Bik, commander of the northern Gaza Brigade of the al-Qassam Brigades, the movement’s armed wing, was killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City.
Hamas confirmed al-Bik’s death, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz said he had been involved in planning attacks and recruiting fighters. According to Palestinian and Israeli reports, the strike targeted a flat in Gaza City’s al-Nasr neighbourhood.
Katz expands threats against Hamas leaders outside Gaza
In a recorded statement, Katz said the Israeli army had killed the commander of the northern Gaza Brigade “as part of the ongoing series of operations against Hamas leaders in Gaza”, adding that “Hamas leaders abroad are also on the target list”. The Israeli Defence Minister vowed to pursue those he said had played a central role in the 7 October 2023 attack, stressing that Israel would not allow them, in his words, to evade being targeted.
Katz did not name the leaders covered by his new threat. He directly referred to the Israeli strike that targeted Hamas leaders in Qatar last year, saying they had “survived once because of a malfunction”, before adding that “next time will come”. The statement renews the threat to target the movement’s leaders based outside the Gaza Strip.
No details on the scope of possible operations
Katz did not provide details about the nature of the “malfunction” he said had prevented the movement’s leaders from being killed in the previous strike. He also did not specify which countries could be involved in possible Israeli operations, or when any such action might take place. The Defence Minister’s statements form part of Israel’s declared policy of pursuing Hamas leaders inside and outside the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army says the movement has leaders and networks operating from several countries outside the Palestinian territories, and accuses them of roles related to financing the movement and managing its activities. Katz’s threat coincided with Israeli forces intensifying their targeting of al-Qassam Brigades commanders in the Gaza Strip during September.
Netanyahu and Katz announced in the middle of the month that the commander of the brigades’ Rafah Brigade had been targeted, days after Israel announced the killing of the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade. Netanyahu and Katz said at the time that the message Israel wanted to convey was that “no one is immune” from being targeted. In the latest of these operations, Israel announced on Tuesday that al-Bik had been killed, while Hamas issued confirmation of his death.
With the killing of the northern Gaza Brigade commander, al-Bik became the third al-Qassam Brigades brigade commander Israel has announced killed in recent weeks, after the commanders of the Khan Younis and Rafah brigades. Katz’s latest statements once again place Hamas leaders outside the Gaza Strip within the scope of a direct Israeli threat, following his reference to the previous strike in Qatar and the continuation of operations against the movement’s leaders inside Gaza.
