The Israeli military on Thursday said a strike three months ago killed three senior Hamas leaders in Gaza, where the army has been battling the Palestinian operatives for nearly a year.

The military said the strike killed Rawhi Mushtaha, the head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, and Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio for Hamas’s political bureau, and Sami Oudeh, a commander.

Approximately 3 months ago, in a joint IDF and ISA strike in Gaza, the following terrorists were eliminated:

🔴Rawhi Mushtaha, the Head of the Hamas government in Gaza
🔴Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio on Hamas’ political bureau and Hamas’ Labor Committee
🔴Sami… pic.twitter.com/6xpH6tOOot

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 3, 2024

“Mushtaha was one of Hamas’ most senior operatives and had a direct impact on decisions relating to Hamas’ force deployment,” said the military in a statement.

The military called Mushtaha the “right-hand man” to Hamas’s top leader Yahya Sinwar.

In 2015, the US State Department had designated Mushtaha as a “specially designated global terrorist”.

The European Council on Foreign Relations described Mushtaha as a member of Hamas’s Gaza politburo who also oversaw its financial affairs.

The ECFR said Siraj was a politburo member, while Oudeh was said to be the leader of the group’s internal security agency.

Israel’s military campaign to wipe out Hamas is believed to have severely weakened the group by killing several of its leaders and thousands of fighters, while also reducing swaths of the territory it rules to rubble.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,788 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.

“Mushtaha was one of Hamas’ most senior operatives and had a direct impact on decisions relating to Hamas’ force deployment,” said the military in a statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former Lok Sabha MP Ashok Tanwar, who joined the BJP in January and unsuccessfully contested the general election on ‘lotus’ symbol, is back in the Congress. Mr Tanwar rejoined the Congress at party leader Rahul Gandhi’s rally at Haryana’s Mahendragarh today.

A former Congress MP from Sirsa, Mr Tanwar served as Haryana Congress chief from 2014 to 2019, when he left the party. In 2021, he joined the Trinamool Congress and switched to AAP the next year. Mr Tanwar left AAP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, opposing AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to ally with Congress.

कांग्रेस ने लगातार शोषितों, वंचितों के हक़ की आवाज़ उठाई है और संविधान की रक्षा के लिए पूरी ईमानदारी से लड़ाई लड़ी है।

हमारे इस संघर्ष और समर्पण से प्रभावित होकर आज BJP के वरिष्ठ नेता, पूर्व सांसद, हरियाणा में BJP की कैंपेन कमेटी के सदस्य और स्टार प्रचारक श्री अशोक तंवर… pic.twitter.com/DynuJEleSE

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 3, 2024

Following his exit from AAP, he joined the BJP and contested the general election from Sira but lost to Congress’s Kumari Selja.

“The Congress has always raised its voice for the oppressed and deprived sections of the society. Influenced by our struggle and dedication, senior BJP leader, former MP, member of BJP’s campaign committee and star campaigner Ashok Tanwar joined the Congress,” the main Opposition party said in a post on X.

Interestingly, Mr Tanwar was tweeting in support of BJP candidates contesting the Haryana Assembly election this morning. An hour later, he was seen at the Congress rally with Mr Gandhi as the announcer spoke about his “ghar wapasi (homecoming)”. The tweets have now been deleted. 

Mr Tanwar’s return to Congress happened on the last day of campaigning ahead of the Haryana Assembly election. The 90 Assembly segments in the state will vote on Saturday. Votes will be counted on Tuesday. While the Congress is pushing hard for a return to power, the BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term. 

In a major breakthrough, Indian authorities uncovered a large-scale cocaine smuggling operation masquerading as a music fan exchange. The investigation revealed sophisticated drug trafficking networks involving shipments from Panama to Goa, and significant cocaine seizures with international cooperation being crucial to combating this menace.