The United States announced this Monday that Hamas number three, Marwan Issa, died last week in an Israeli offensive.
"He was killed in an Israeli operation last week. The rest of the senior officials are hiding, probably in Hamas' deep network of tunnels," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a press conference.
The representative of the US Administration stressed that Washington will help ensure justice is done.
"Israel has made significant progress against Hamas. They have destroyed a significant number of Hamas battalions and killed thousands of fighters, including senior commanders," he added.
The announcement, not confirmed by Israel, comes on the same day that US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone for the first time in weeks.
In that conversation they discussed the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and a possible Israeli operation in the city of Rafah, the southernmost point of the Palestinian enclave, which Washington considers a "mistake."
In the Hamas hierarchy within the Gaza Strip, Marwan Issa is "number 3", since the leader is Yahya Sinwar, head of the Islamist group in the enclave, combining the political and military branches; followed by Mohamed Deif, commander in chief of the al Qasam Brigades.
