Hamas Television Building Destroyed in Israeli Airstrike

In the continuation of the reciprocal attacks between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed organizations in Gaza, which have once again brought southern Israel and the Gaza Strip to a state of near-war since Monday evening, November 21, the Israeli army destroyed the 'Al-Aqsa' television station belonging to Hamas. According to reports, shortly before the bombing of the 'Al-Aqsa' headquarters in eastern Jabalia, the network's programming was interrupted. It appears that Israel had informed Hamas of the imminent bombing to allow its staff and presenters to evacuate the building. Following this event, spokespeople for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad stated that they would implement their earlier warning and use longer-range missiles to strike further Israeli cities. The officials of Al-Aqsa network also announced that they would broadcast their programs from other locations in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Colonel Ronen Manlis, a spokesperson for the Israeli army, tweeted on Monday night: 'If Gaza is destroyed, Hamas is responsible because attempts to harm civilians are unacceptable, and we respond with force.' In the first seven hours of the crisis, over 300 rockets were fired from Gaza towards southern Israel, injuring 13 Israelis and causing damage to their homes; most of them suffered psychological shock. Israeli media continuously reported the sounding of air raid sirens warning of incoming rocket attacks, urging residents of Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, the suburbs of Be'er Sheva, and areas around the Dead Sea to seek shelter. At the same time, Palestinians confirmed that three Palestinians were killed in the airstrikes on Monday evening, causing heavy damage to the Strip. New tensions arose after the Israeli army confirmed that one of its senior officers was killed on Sunday night during a 'covert operation' in the Khan Younis area of eastern Gaza, and another officer was wounded. The Israeli army referred to the Palestinian casualties as 'saboteurs belonging to military branches.' The Israeli army announced that Lieutenant Colonel 'M' who commanded a 'special operations unit' lost his life during the execution of a secret plan that faced 'complications.' Palestinians confirmed that in the Israeli unit's operation, seven members of Hamas's military branch were killed, including Noor Muhammad Barakeh, a well-known commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas stated in a statement that Israel's goal was to abduct one of the important commanders of its military branch, and Sheikh Noor ad-Din Muhammad Salameh Barakeh rushed to the scene to 'help thwart this abduction' and was 'martyred.' These events were significant enough that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to Paris for the centenary of the end of World War I and returned to Israel early Monday morning. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu held a meeting on Monday night with Avigdor Lieberman, the Minister of Defense, and military commanders to assess the situation in the Gaza Strip. The semi-war conditions in the region have recurred as, with the agreement of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt, the Qatari emirate began paying overdue salaries to thousands of Palestinian government employees in Gaza on Saturday, November 19, and in return, Hamas committed to calming protests at the Gaza-Israel borders. In recent days, Benjamin Netanyahu defended his agreement to allow $90 million from Qatar to aid the people of Gaza, which could also contribute to 'Israel's security.' $15 million of this amount was transferred to the Strip by a Qatari delegation in recent days. Yahya Sinwar, the internal leader of Hamas, referred to these aids and some other agreements, such as establishing a maritime channel between the Gaza coast and Cyprus, as 'lifting the siege' on Gaza and a success for the Palestinians. The events of Monday in Gaza also drew a reaction from Iran, which is a major supporter of both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. According to Iranian media, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, condemned the 'assassination' of Noor ad-Din Barakeh and the 'collective martyrdom of other Palestinian fighters' by Israel and called for 'immediate intervention by international organizations.'