Yesterday the Israeli Air Force successfully targeted Ibrahim Bihari, a senior Hamas commander in Jabaliya, together with dozens of other Hamas terrorists.
In today’s Mission Brief, I want to explain who Ibrahim Bihari was, why he was a high-value target, what the results of the strike can teach us about Hamas’ tactics and why Western countries everywhere must pay attention to this.
Let’s start with Ibrahim Bihari
Bihari is a career terrorist. His involvement in terrorism dates back to the Second Intifada, in the early 2000s. He personally planned the terror attack at the Port of Ashdod port which killed 10 Israelis civilians and wounded over a dozen others.
Bihari has been actively involved in killing Israelis since.
Most recently, Bihari, now the the Commander of Hamas’ Central Jabaliya Battalion, played a role in the October 7th massacre, deploying Hamas “Nukbha” terrorists – Hamas’ elite commando forces – from the northern Gaza Strip into Israeli communities to butcher men, women and children. Since Israel began to respond to these attacks, Bihari has overseen Hamas’ battle efforts in northern Gaza. He was not “just another terrorist.”
Tunneling Under Civilians: Bihari’s Human Shields
On October 31st, Israeli intelligence and the Israeli Security Agency (the Shabak) were able to confirm that Bihari was hiding with dozens of other operatives in a Hamas building in Jabaliya. So the Israeli Air Force targeted them, part of our efforts to dismantle Hamas and ensure that the massacres of October 7th never repeat themselves.
This is where the tunnels come in.
Bihari – and Hamas’ leadership as a whole – rely on a vast network of tunnels and underground infrastructure to hide underneath Gazan civilians and execute attacks. These tunnels are, of course, never used by Gazan civilians. As Abu Markzouk, a Hamas leader, recently said:
Protecting Gaza civilians is the responsibility of the UN and Israel…We have built the tunnels to protect ourselves from getting targeted and killed. These are meant to protect us from the airplanes.
Bihari – the murderous terrorist who commanded parts of the October 7th attack – was killed in the air force strike.
But I want to focus here on the aftermath of the strike and the consequences of Hamas’ urban tactics.
We’ve been explaining for weeks that Hamas embeds itself deeply in civilian infrastructure, sinking millions of dollars and massive resources into underground networks rather than investing it in the people of Gaza. As a result of the subterranean infrastructure, the building that was targeted collapsed, as did other buildings in the area. The same network built to protect Hamas, not Gazan civilians, now was directly responsible for civilians’ death.
Hamas started this war. And Hamas turned its back on the people of Gaza.
Hamas exploited the people of Gaza, tunneling under their cities for their own defense. Hamas prevented civilians from heeding the IDF’s calls on them to evacuate to southern Gaza, to remain out of the line of fire. And Hamas actively seeks to amplify Gazan casualties to garner international support in defense of their horrific war crimes that left over 1,400 Israelis dead and some 240 in captivity.
Our war is not with the people of Gaza. The Palestinian people deserve peace and safety. Instead they are exploited as shields. The people of Israel deserve to live without the looming threat of Hamas. Instead, they are – and remain – targeted.
Israel – and the people of Gaza – deserve to live free of Hamas.
