Israel admits it failed to assassinate Hamas commander Haitham al-Hawajri
The Israeli military has acknowledged that it has failed to assassinate Haitham al-Hawajri, the commander of the al-Shati brigade of Hamas’ armed wing, adding that the evidence used to announce his killing “was not accurate.”
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed in a statement on Saturday that the intelligence regarding the successful killing of the senior Hamas commander in an airstrike was incorrect.
"Following the attack, Israel security agency Shin Bet and the military assessed with a high degree of certainty that he had been eliminated and the army issued an official statement confirming it," Hagari said.
"Further examination has revealed that the intelligence relied upon by Shin Bet, military intelligence, and the Southern Command was incorrect. Hawajri was not killed in the attack," he added.
The admission came after Palestinian media reports revealed that Hawajri has personally handed over Israeli captive Keith Siegel as part of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel that ended the latter's 15-month-long genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
On December 3, 2023, the Israeli military announced Hawajri’s killing in an airstrike, accusing him of directing combat operations against Israeli forces.
However, his recent appearance during the prisoner exchange has exposed flaws in Israel’s intelligence assessments.
Back in January, the reappearance of Hussein Fayyad, a high-ranking commander of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in a video clip belied the Israeli military’s claim of killing him in the northern Gaza Strip last May.
The video, which was widely shared on social media, showed Fayyad praising Gaza’s resistance against the Israeli regime’s months-long aggression and dismissing the onslaught as futile.
The Israeli occupation army claimed in May last year that Fayyad, the commander of the Beit Hanoun Brigade of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, had been “eliminated” in an underground operation in Jabaliya tunnel, north of Gaza City.
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