IDF says it killed several top Hamas commanders
The Israel Defense Forces said this morning its troops had killed three top Hamas commanders who were part of the Oct. 7. attacks.
Ahmed Musa, a company commander and Omar Al-Hindi, a platoon commander, were located in western Jabaliya, the IDF said today, adding Mohammed Kahlout, the head of a sniper array, was also killed.
“Furthermore, IDF troops struck a shipping container located at a beach, containing approximately 20 rocket launchers,” it added.
NBC News has not verified the claims.
International travel demand has fallen since Israel-Hamas war began, data shows
International flight bookings around the world have fallen since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict, especially in the Americas, as people cancel trips to the Middle East and around the world, according to travel analysis firm ForwardKeys.
“This war is a catastrophic, heartbreaking, human tragedy that we are all seeing daily on our TV screens,” Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys, said in a statement. “That is bound to put people off (from) traveling to the region, but it has also dented consumer confidence in traveling elsewhere too.”
In the three weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, international flight bookings from the Americas dropped 10% compared with the number of tickets issued in the three weeks before the attack, according to flight ticketing data from the firm.
International flight bookings fell 5% across regions on average, impacting the global rebound in international travel from the pandemic.
‘We don’t seek to occupy’ Gaza, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview Thursday, “we don’t seek to govern Gaza, we don’t seek to occupy” but that he is committed to destroying Hamas.
“We’re going to continue until we eradicate Hamas. Nothing will stop that,” Netanyahu said in an interview on Fox News.
Netanyahu did not give an estimated time for the military offensive against Hamas in Gaza to last. “I’ve set goals. I didn’t set a timetable, because you know, it can take more time. I wish it will take little time,” he said.
Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC News this week that Israel would have “the overall security responsibility” for Gaza for an indefinite period after the war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said subsequently that it was clear that “Gaza cannot be continued to be run by Hamas,” but that “it’s also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza.”
