Hamas skeptical over Israel's claim that it assassinated senior Al-Qassam commander

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas cast doubt Tuesday on Israel's narrative regarding the alleged assassination of Marwan Issa, the deputy general commander of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.

The Israeli army claimed earlier in the day that it eliminated Issa in a strike earlier this month.

"There is no confidence in the occupation's narrative regarding the assassination of Issa, and the definitive statement is from the Al-Qassam Brigades leadership,'' Hamas Political Bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.

There have been no statements from Hamas on the Israeli claim.

Al-Rishq considered the timing of Israel’s alleged assassination of Issa as aiming to "divert attention from the crises facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the failure of the army to achieve its objectives."

The Israeli army said on March 12 that it bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after receiving intelligence about Issa's presence, but at the time, it failed to determine his fate.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Palestinian territories since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 32,400 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 74,800 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio