‘Broken on physical, mental level’: Hamas commander’s cry for help

Israeli defence minister reveals a letter written by a senior Hamas commander begging for help from leader Yahya Sinwar after having lost most of his fighters to death and injuries.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant with the letter written by the now dead commander of Hamas's Khan Younis brigade. Picture: IDF.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has revealed a letter written by a senior Hamas commander to leader Yahya Sinwar describing his fighters as “broken on a physical and mental level,” having lost most of their weapons and more than half their troops.

In the letter Rafa’a Salameh, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade, pleads Sinwar and his brother Muhammad for help, telling them: “We have lost 90-95 per cent of our rocket capabilities; 60 per cent of our personal weapons; at least 65-70 per cent of our anti-tank launchers and rockets, and most importantly we have lost at least 50 per cent of our fighters between those who are martyred and wounded, and now we are left with 25 per cent.”

He continues: “The last 25 per cent of our people have reached a situation where the people do not tolerate them anymore, broken on a mental or physical level,” according to Israeli media.

The letter, written in May – two months before Salameh was killed in an Israeli strike – reveals the success of Israel‘s attacks on Hamas and will be used by the Netanyahu government as proof that their relentless bombardment of Gaza will lead to victory in Jerusalem’s war against the militant group, despite failed negotiations over a ceasefire.

The Israeli Prime Minister has refused to budge over a key sticking point of keeping troops in the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt, while Hamas is equally intransigent over its demands for a permanent truce.

Salameh was killed in an air strike near Khan Younis on July 13, along with then Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif. Their deaths were followed weeks later by the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who has been replaced by Sinwar. Muhammad Sinwar is a senior commander in the group’s military wing.

Mr Gallant described the letter, found by the Israeli Defence Forces as, literally, a cry for help.

Salameh “cries out for the help of the Sinwar brothers, but of course they cannot save him,” he told reporters.

“Why? Because we are continuing the effort that started in October and continues step by step … and reaches all senior Hamas officials. He wrote this to the Sinwar brothers, we will get to them as well.”

It came as an Israeli soldier was killed after an oil tanker rammed an Israeli guard post in the West Bank, increasing concerns over violence in the territory.

According to the IDF, the driver of “a Palestinian truck” rammed into “forces conducting operational activity” in the occupied territory.

The suspected assailant was “neutralised” by Israeli forces “and an armed civilian” at the scene of the attack near the Jewish settlement of Givat Assaf, north of Ramallah, the IDF said in a statement.

Earlier today a Palestinian Terrorist disguised as a Truck Driver committed a Ramming Attack against a Military Checkpoint near the Israeli Town of Giv'at Asaf in the West Bank, resulting the Death of an Israeli Soldier with the Nahshon Battalion. pic.twitter.com/RIBkP2OTbD

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 11, 2024

It later identified the dead soldier as 24-year-old Staff Sergeant Geri Gideon Hanghal.

An Israeli air strike Wednesday hit a central Gaza school, with the Hamas-run territory’s civil defence agency reporting 14 killed in the facility-turned-displacement shelter and the military saying it had targeted militants.

Israeli forces have struck several such schools in recent months, saying Palestinian militants were operating there and hiding among displaced civilians, charges denied by Hamas.

The Al-Jawni school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, already hit several times during the war, was struck again on Wednesday, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

“The number of martyrs has risen to 14,” he said, updating an earlier toll of 10 killed in the “Israeli bombing of Al-Jawni school” which also wounded numerous people.

With AFP