• Israeli military and Shin Bet say one of the Hamas commanders who orchestrated the October 7 attack has been killed in an airstrike.
• IDF says combined combat forces have struck approximately 300 targets over last 24 hours.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects calls to declare a cease-fire in Gaza.
• Head of UN Palestinian aid agency says situation in Gaza is “crumbling.”
• Top Biden administration officials to testify Tuesday before Senate committee in support of President Biden’s $106 billion emergency aid request for both Ukraine and Israel.

Israel says it has killed one of the Hamas commanders who orchestrated the deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel.

The Israeli Defense Force and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service, issued a joint statement Tuesday saying Nasim Abu Ajina was killed in an airstrike, according to intelligence reports.

The statement says Abu Ajina was commander of the Beit Lahia Battalion of Hamas’ Northern Brigade and took part in the development of the unmanned aerial vehicles and paragliders involved in the brazen invasion.

“His elimination significantly harms the efforts of the Hamas terrorist organization to disrupt the IDF’s ground activities,” the statement said.

The IDF also said its combined air and ground forces struck approximately 300 targets over the last 24 hours, including anti-tank missile and underground rocket launch posts, as well as military compounds inside Hamas’ underground tunnels. The military said Hamas terrorists were killed during the operation.

Hamas has a sprawling network of tunnels underneath Gaza where it is believed to be stockpiling weapons, food and other supplies.

Israeli troops and tanks are steadily moving further into northern Gaza, expanding their military presence in Gaza.

No to Cease-Fire

The new round of attacks came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls from around the world to declare a cease-fire in the war on Hamas.

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since the October 7 attacks have led to a humanitarian crisis in the crowded Palestinian enclave. The Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry said Monday more than 8,300 have been killed in the airstrikes, mostly women and children. The humanitarian group Save the Children says more than 3,000 children have been killed in the conflict.

But Netanyahu said in a press conference Monday that calls for a cease-fire “are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism.”

“This will not happen,” Netanyahu added. “This is a time for war.”

Netanyahu also rejected growing calls for him to resign over the shock attack that left 1,400 Israelis dead.

‘Crumbling’ situation in Gaza

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, told the U.N. Security Council Monday that the Israeli bombing campaign on Gaza “is collective punishment” of the Palestinians as a whole. Lazzarini said “basic services are crumbling” in Gaza, with medicine, food, water and fuel running out and the streets overflowing with sewage.

He said the communications blackout over the weekend after last week’s bombardment has “aggravated the panic and distress of people” and “accelerated the breaking down of civil order.” Lazzarini said thousands of desperate people stormed the UNRWA warehouse and distribution centers where humanitarian shipments from Egypt are being stored.

Lazzarini told the Council that 64 of his UNRWA colleagues have been killed in Gaza over the last three weeks, including the head of security and safety in the central region who was killed with his wife and eight others just hours before the Security Council meeting.

Video of hostages

The Israeli military said Monday that a female soldier held captive by Hamas militants was freed during Monday’s ground operation. The IDF says the soldier, identified as Private Ori Megidish, was doing well and had met with her family.

Hamas on Monday released a video showing three hostages whom Prime Minister Netanyahu identified in a written statement as Elena Trupanov, Daniel Aloni and Rimon Kirsht. The trio sat side by side against a bare wall as Aloni delivered an angry message to the prime minister, criticizing Israel’s response to the hostage crisis and demanding he release Hamas prisoners in exchange for the hostages.

Netanyahu condemned the video as “cruel psychological propaganda.”

Israel says the number of hostages abducted during the terrorist attack now stands at 240.

Top Biden Administration Officials to Testify Before Senate on Israel, Ukraine Aid Package

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will appear before a Senate committee Tuesday to push for the $105 billion emergency aid package for both Israel and Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden.

President Biden has requested bipartisan support in the Democratic-controlled Senate but faces a major obstacle in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Republican leaders unveiled an alternative proposal Tuesday that would allocate $14 billion for Israel, while reducing funding for the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. government’s tax collecting agency.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement accusing House Republicans of “politicizing our national security interests” with their proposal, which she called “a nonstarter.”

“Playing political games that threaten the source of funding for Israel’s self-defense—now and into the future—would set an unacceptable precedent that calls our commitment to one of our closest allies into question,” Jean-Pierre said. She said House Republicans were seeking to reduce funding for the IRS to “help the wealthy and big corporations cheat on their taxes.”

President Biden secured $80 billion for the IRS in his signature Inflation Reduction Act, with the aim to improve taxpayer services and pay for more enforcement actions against wealthy tax cheats.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. Source: VOA News