Israel claims killing Hamas commander in air strike

Jerusalem, May 18:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday claimed that it has eliminated the Hamas operations headquarters Commander who advanced terror plots against Israeli forces.

“IDF forces in the Southern Command eliminated Bahaa Baroud yesterday, a commander in the operations headquarters of the Hamas terror organisation,” the IDF said on social media platform X.

It detailed that Baroud operated throughout the war and particularly in recent times to plan and advance numerous terror plots by Hamas against the IDF forces in the Gaza Strip and the citizens of Israel.

“Baroud posed an immediate threat to IDF forces and was eliminated in a precise aerial strike,” the IDF claimed.
It emphasised that steps were taken prior to the strike to minimise harm to civilians, including the use of precise weaponry and aerial observations.

The IDF last week claimed that it had destroyed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad weapons production site and weapons storage facility in northern Gaza.​

The IDF said that “the site had been used by the organisation’s production array, as well as by Hamas for the production of explosive devices and the storage of additional weapons intended to harm Israeli civilians and Israel Defence Forces troops”.​

The IDF under the Southern Command are deployed in the area.