Hours ahead of truce, Israel eliminates Hamas naval force commander

The commander of Hamas naval forces, Amar Abu Jalalah, has been killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Khan Younis.Jalalah, who was a senior operative in Hamas’ naval forces and involved in directing several terror attacks by sea, was killed by IDF fighter jets.According to a statement by IDF, an additional operative in Hamas’ naval forces was also killed in the operation.With the death of another top Hamas commander, IDF believes it is progressing in eliminating upper-level military operatives of the terror group. An IDF official told CNN that according to an assessment, there are 24 battalions in the military wing of Hamas, out of which 10 have been "hurt significantly" since the October 7 attack.Earlier this month, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said that Israeli troops have killed over 60 senior and mid-level Hamas leaders since the October 7 attack.“The mission is to dismantle each Hamas stronghold that is buried underground in bunkers We’re making solid progress according to plan,” Conricus told Sky News.He added, “So far we have been able to get our hands on at least 60 mid-level and senior-level Hamas commanders. Now we are focussing on combatant commanders and those who have direct influence on combat operations on the ground.”Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas started a four-day ceasefire on Friday with the militants set to release 13 Israeli women and child hostages later in the day.The truce began at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), involving a comprehensive ceasefire in north and south Gaza, and was to be followed by the release of some of the more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas during the Islamists' October 7 attack inside Israel, mediators in Qatar said. A number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons were to be freed in exchange.With inputs from agencies