The Hamas leaders who are ‘dead men walking’

By Lt. Col. James Zumwalt

A trait shared by generations of Jews has been triggered in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas raid into Israel. It is a trait Nazis learned and Muslim terrorists are learning the hard way for their anti-Jew brutality.

After World War II, the Israelis spent decades tracking down Nazis involved in the Jewish extermination process known as the Holocaust, either bringing them to justice or administering it. Perhaps the most famous was the kidnapping in Argentina of Adolf Eichman in 1960 by Israeli operatives. During the war, it was a boastful Eichman who took credit for transporting millions of Jews to extermination camps. Brought to Israel, he was tried, convicted and executed.

Muslim extremists who murdered Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Berlin experienced this trait as well. Those who escaped or were involved in the planning were subsequently hunted down and executed.

Now targeted are members of Hamas. Immediately after their Oct. 7 attack, Israel’s Shin Bet created a new unit the sole mission of which was to track down and eliminate every extremist leader involved in the raid.

As a result, Israel has created a target list and is checking it twice – mostly to remove names. Among them were:

Nasim Abu Ajina: Ajina, a Hamas commander, lost his command and more importantly his life in an Israel air strike on Oct. 30, 2023. He had helped develop the paragliders and drones used by Hamas during its attack.

Sayyed Razi Mousavi: Even Iran incurred Israel’s wrath for its involvement in the raid as an airstrike conducted outside Syria’s capital of Damascus in December 2023 killed Mousavi – one of Iran’s most senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders there. This has caused Iran to withdraw its senior IRGC commanders.

Adil Mismah: Mismah, commander of the elite Hamas Nukhba force, which led in a brutal attack on a kibbutz, was eliminated by an Israeli jet fighter on Jan. 1.

Saleh al-Arouri: Al-Arouri, deputy chief of Hamas until Jan. 2, was taken out by a drone strike in Beirut, Lebanon’s southern suburbs of Dahiyeh – a stronghold for Hamas’ militant Lebanese terrorist ally Hezbollah. An “architect” of the Oct. 7 massacre, he was one of the top leaders on Israel’s list.

Newly Formed Jenin Battalion Leaders: In a preventative action strike, three leaders of the newly formed Jenin Battalion were assassinated in a hospital they were clandestinely using – by Israeli commandos dressed as doctors.

Two Hamas names not yet removed from the target list are Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar.

Deif is the military commander of Hamas. Pictures of him are scarce, understandably since he bears the scars of at least seven attempts by the Israelis to assassinate him for organizing previous terrorist attacks. This explains why he walks with a limp and has but one eye. He has commanded Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza since the 1990s and been on Israel’s “Most Wanted” list since 1995.

Sinwar is the leader of Hamas in Gaza. He, like Deif, is a dead man walking as the Israelis appear to be close to locating him. A reward of $400,000 has been offered to assist in this effort. While he immediately went silent after the Hamas attack, he apparently feels a little more confident about his ability to survive as he now has been identified in some communications.

The Hamas leadership – at least those still surviving, remaining safely hidden while sending their minions out to do battle – are learning the battlefield is far larger than they realized. While the lower levels of Hamas leadership continue to use the tunnels to stay safe, the upper level leaders staying safe in Qatar are now discovering, based on Israel’s long arm reach, it is not safe there for them there any longer. Many, having turned off their phones to prevent Israeli monitoring, are on the run to destinations unknown, most likely Iran, Algeria and Turkey.

In the past, Israel has remained tight-lipped about its hit unit. That appears no longer true as it has made known these terrorists are now being hunted. This knowledge seems to be having an impact on the Hamas leadership based on ongoing negotiations for a second ceasefire.

Recent discussions include, in addition to a possible six-week three-stage ceasefire to begin with the release of Gaza hostages, a demand by Hamas that Israel will not assassinate its senior members living abroad. It is interesting to see Hamas seeking such a guarantee from the Israelis – knowing, if agreed, they would abide by it – when Hamas violated the terms of the last ceasefire to which it agreed within 15 minutes after it began.

The demand is telling for two reasons. Not only does it reveal the interest of Hamas leaders in focusing on their own welfare and safety and not that of their legions but it also suggests the Israeli assassination campaign is taking a psychological toll.

This must be the first time in history a terrorist group has sought a free pass for its leadership, pardoning past transgressions so it can live abroad safely to continue planning future operations. The only thing more outrageous than this would be to grant such a pass. Israel must show the world these terrorist leaders are to be denied the comfort of any sanctuary. Let them spend the rest of their short lives constantly looking over their shoulders.

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Lt. Col. James Zumwalt

Lt. Col. James G. Zumwalt is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam war, the U.S. invasion of Panama and the first Gulf war. He is the author of three books on the Vietnam war, North Korea and Iran as well as hundreds of op-eds. Read more of Lt. Col. James Zumwalt's articles here.


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