Tel Aviv, Dec 31 (IANS): A senior operative of Hamas, who was the Brigade commander of al-Qassim Brigade, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
The Hamas commander, identified as Abdul Fattah Amin Maali. was killed on Saturday
Maali was the right-hand man of Yahya Ayyash, one of the founders of the al-Qassim Brigades and an expert bomb maker.
Yahya Ayyash was the brain behind several suicide bombings carried out by Hamas in the nineties.
Ayyash was the chief bomb maker of Hamas and was assassinated by Israel intelligence in 1996.
Abdul Fattah Amin Maali was jailed in Israel for terror attacks and after release from prison had been commanding the al-Qassim Brigades which was responsible for the October 7 attacks on Israel leading to the massacre of 1,200 people.