Netanyahu’s Revelation: Illuminating the Covert Strategies in Targeting Hamas Leadership

Media reports suggested that Netanyahu’s statement referred to the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the movement, the martyr Saleh al-Arouri, and that the Israeli Prime Minister’s remarks indicate a desire to assassinate other senior leaders.

Saleh al-Arouri referred to an airstrike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in early 2024, although the occupation did not officially claim responsibility for the attack.

What did Netanyahu say about the fourth man in Hamas?

In a video clip on Monday, March 11, the Israeli Prime Minister stated, “We are on our way to absolute victory. On our way to this victory.”

He added, “We eliminated number 4 in Hamas. Numbers 3, 2, and 1 are on the way. Everyone is a target; we will reach everyone,” interpreted by the media as targeting the leader Saleh al-Arouri.

According to Israeli officials quoted by Channel 12, it is unknown who Netanyahu intended as the number 4 official.

The third man, Marwan Issa

Media reports claimed that Israel is investigating the fate of the third man in the Hamas movement, Marwan Issa, the Deputy Head of the military wing of the movement, who was reportedly targeted in an airstrike on the dawn of March 9, 2024.

According to sources, if the reports of his assassination are true, he would be the highest-ranking leader in Hamas that Israel has targeted in the ongoing war for more than five months, which has devastated the Palestinian territory and caused a major humanitarian tragedy.

It is worth mentioning that negotiations for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting are stumbling due to what Hamas says is Israel’s refusal to provide guarantees to end the war and withdraw the occupying forces.