Israel declared on
wednesday that it had killed Ibrahim Biari, a key Hamas
commander who was allegedly one of the
people behind the assaults on
israel on
october 7. The
israel Defence Forces claim that its
fighter jets destroyed several of the
terrorists who were with Hamas and disrupted his command and control structure in Jabalia.
“Additionally, underground terrorist infrastructure collapsed following the strike. The IDF reiterates its call to the residents of the area to move south for their safety”, the IDF said in a post on
social media platform X. However, Hamas has denied the presence of its
commander in the area.
Who was Ibrahim Biari?
The Central Jabaliya Battalion of Hamas, based in the Gaza Strip's Jabaliya refugee camp, was led by Ibrahim Biari. The IDF claims that since Hamas began its ground onslaught, Biari was in charge of all activities in the northern Gaza Strip. He was also thought to have taken part in other strikes against
israel during the last few decades. According to the CNN article, the IDF had accused Biari of being among the Hamas leaders in charge of dispatching fighters to
israel in order to carry out coordinated attacks on
october 7.
"He was very important, I would say even pivotal in the planning and execution of the
october 7 attack against
israel from the northeastern parts of the Gaza Strip," Reuters cited Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, the spokesperson for the
israel Defence Forces, as exclaiming.
The IDF claims that Biari was also responsible for dispatching Hamas fighters to the 2004 Ashdod Port attack, which resulted in the deaths of 13 Israelis.
"Over the past day, IDF troops operated in a Hamas terrorist stronghold in Jabaliya, northern Gaza," the IDF announced in reference to another event. The stronghold served as a training ground and operational base for terrorists. About fifty
terrorists were killed by the forces during the ground operation, and weapons and tunnel entrances were demolished.