Israel says ISIS head Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Zayda 'eliminated' in Gaza strike

Israel claim the leader of ISIS has been 'eliminated' during a deadly airstrike in Gaza.

The official X account of the Israel Defense Forces says Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Zayda - a key figure within the Jihadist militant group - has been killed. In a statement tonight, they announced the news on social media.

It comes days after Israeli forces conducted a series of strikes on a former army barracks in Kiswa, miles from the Syrian capital of Damascus, according to Syria’s state-run al-Ekhbariya TV.

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It read: "During the past week, the IDF attacked and eliminated using aircraft, led by Southern Command and guided by Military Intelligence, the head of the "Palestine" district in the ISIS terror organization in the Gaza Strip, the terrorist Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Abu Zayda, in the Al-Bureij area.

"Abu Zayda served in the highest-ranking position in the ISIS terror organization in the Gaza Strip, and was responsible for setting policy, planning, and executing the organization's methods of operation in the areas of Judea and Samaria, the Gaza Strip, and Sinai.

"The ISIS terror organization took an active part in the fighting against IDF forces in the Strip, and also operated to transfer combat equipment and to raise significant terror funding from the areas of Judea and Samaria to the Gaza Strip. The IDF will continue to act with determination and force against the terror organizations in the Strip."

It went on to say: "The IDF continues the series of targeted eliminations of terrorists from the "Radwan" Force in the terrorist organization Hezbollah Earlier today, an Air Force aircraft, guided by Northern Command, struck and eliminated the terrorist Ahmed Na'im Matuk in the Sir al-Arabiya area in southern Lebanon.

"The terrorist served as the head of a battalion headquarters of the "Radwan" Force of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, and during the war, he advanced numerous terror plots against the State of Israel. The terrorist's actions constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. The IDF will continue to operate in order to remove any threat to the State of Israel."

Israel has declared Gaza City a ‘dangerous combat zone’ as it launched its long-awaited ground offensive on the stricken community. Attacks on the outskirts of the central Gaza quarter have begun while tankfire and airstrikes have escalated on the Strip’s largest urban centre with one million Palestinians.

It comes as the Israeli military admitted it is ‘operating with great force’ on the area, and elsewhere throughout Gaza at least 31 have been killed by troops. Israeli troops have retrieved the bodies of two hostages, that of Ilan Weiss and another, unnamed, individual, which Hamas terrorists had kept in the Gaza Strip. Mr Weiss, 56, was murdered on October 7, 2023, while defending Kibbutz Be’eri, and his corpse was taken to Gaza, according to an Israeli statement.

His daughter and wife, Noga and Shiri, were also abducted. They were released in November 2023 as part of a hostage deal. Five Palestinians killed since dawn on Friday in Gaza were in the so-called safe area of al-Mawasi which had been designated a ‘humanitarian zone’ by Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the operation to seize Gaza City, “signals a new and dangerous phase” in the war. Israel's military said it suspended midday pauses to fighting, which had allowed food and aid supplies to enter from 10am to 8pm in Gaza's largest city.