The Zioneer reports that Farah Hamed, a senior Hamas military wing commander and member of the Al-Qassam Military Council, was eliminated in a strike in the Gaza Strip. Hamed was convicted of the 2002 murder of Shuli Har-Melech, sentenced to three life terms, released in the 2011 Shalit prisoner exchange, and deported to Gaza, where he continued orchestrating terror operations in Judea and Samaria.
In its latest update on the elimination of senior Hamas commander Farah Hamed, The Zioneer reports the conviction at the heart of his record: Hamed, a resident of Silwad and a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades' Military Council responsible for Judea and Samaria, was convicted of the 2002 murder of Shuli Har-Melech, husband of current MK Limor Son Har-Melech, and sentenced to three life terms. Released in the 2011 Shalit prisoner exchange and deported to Gaza, he went on directing terror operations in Judea and Samaria from the Strip, according to Israeli security sources.
The detail lands less than a day after the thread's last entry, logged Wednesday at 17:08 Jerusalem. That thread traced the corroboration in stages: an initial report of a targeted IDF motorcycle strike on Hamed in western Gaza City on Wednesday evening; Palestinian sources confirming his death; Hamas's official confirmation; and Israeli media identifying Hamed as the murderer of Shuli Har-Melech. The latest entry has Hamas announcing Thursday morning that Hamed was killed in an Israeli strike in the Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood. Early entries described him as serving three life sentences for the October 2003 Ein Yabroud attack that killed three IDF soldiers — one report cited seven life terms — and said he had returned to operational activity, even running in the proposed 2021 Palestinian elections.
The strike extends a pattern The Zioneer has documented all summer: targeted strikes on senior Hamas operatives in Gaza City and across the Strip — from an apparent military-wing leader reportedly killed in a western Gaza City strike three days earlier (Sep 6), to Hamas's Deir al-Balah administrative chief Kamal Abu Mu'iliq, eliminated with his wife and daughter in a strike reported Aug 2, and naval police commander Mansour Shahtout, killed in a strike reported Jun 28. Hamed also belongs to a distinct category: Shalit-deal releases targeted again after returning to terror activity.
What remains open: the IDF has not commented on the strike; initial reports described Hamed killed on his motorcycle on Al-Rashid Street, while later accounts said he died of his wounds from the Wednesday strike; and the thread does not reconcile whether his life sentences stemmed from the 2002 murder, the October 2003 attack, or both.
8 developments
- DevelopingMK Son Har Melech: 'Short blanket' policy – forces used for plowing near Allon axis, not for fighting terror
- StrongWidow of Samaria terror victim: 'He was a hero in life and death'
- DevelopingMK Limor Son Har Melech demands IDF change Judea and Samaria settler policy
- DevelopingMK Son Har Melech: Blot's 'short blanket' — no troops for refugee camps, forces for outposts
Source and signal
- Open-source intake