The Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy carried out strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight into Thursday, killing top commanders in Hamas’s general security mechanism, the military announced.

According to health officials in Gaza, at least nine Palestinians were killed in strikes on four apartments early on Thursday.

Hassan Labad, the deputy head of the security mechanism, along with senior officials Asem Shabir, Abdullah Abu Kaloub, and Mohammed Abu Marek, were killed in the strikes, the Israel Defense Forces said.

“The senior officials of the general security mechanism were eliminated to remove a threat, after they were recently involved in attempts to rebuild the Hamas terror organization and assisted the organization’s senior leadership in advancing terror activity against the State of Israel and IDF troops,” the military said in a statement.

The security mechanism, according to the IDF, is a clandestine Hamas body responsible for security for top Hamas officials, communications between them, coordinating their meetings, and transporting them between emergency sites.

The mechanism is also responsible for producing intelligence assessments, “which assists the organization’s senior leadership in decision-making and in carrying out terror plans against the State of Israel,” the IDF added.

Gaza health officials said five members of the same family were among the dead. Medics said four apartments were hit, including the family’s home, before dawn. At least 15 other people were........

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