Ramallah: The Gaza field leader of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad in Palestine, Hafez Mohammad Hamad and five members of his family have been killed during Israeli air strikes on his home in Beit Hanoun north of the Gaza Strip.
The house of Hafez Hamad, 30, was targeted by several Israeli rockets fired from aircraft. In the attack, Hafez, his two brothers Ebrahim, 27, and Mahdi, 46, his mother Fawzeyah Khalil Hamad, 63, and his two nieces Suha Hamad, 25, and Dunia Hamad died.
The Islamic Jihad said that the house of Hafez Hamad was a main target for the Israeli rockets during the Israeli 2012 offensive against Gaza, but Hafez had been able to escape all those assassination attempts.
In a statement highlighting the importance of Hafez Hamad, the Iran backed Islamic Jihad stressed that the man was a key field leader and head of the brigades of Beit Hanon.
Sources in Gaza said that the Israeli aircraft seemed determined to kill Hafaz Hamad because at least three rockets were fired at the house. The sources said that at the time of the attack everybody assumed that Hafez was not home and that subsequently residents thought that he had made a serious mistake by being easily caught in an Israeli air strike.
One source said that Hafez was at his home for a short time when he was targeted.
The Gaza sources said that Hafez Hamad had been one of the most wanted Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and that his loss is a major blow for the Palestinian resistance. The sources said that the Israeli military forces had known that Hafez was not alone at the house and that their strike would cause the death of some of his close relatives. Nonetheless, the sources stressed, the Israeli forces would have struck him even if hundreds of people were beside him and would have been harmed in the air strike.
The sources believed the Israeli forces saw a chance to remove a leader as important as Hamad and did not hesitate to act.
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