ISRAEL has created a new "eternal" strike force to track down and kill all 2,500 Hamas terrorists behind the October 7 massacre.
Created by the country's security agency Shin Bet, the special unit was specifically set up to target members of Nukhba – a special commando unit within Hamas's military wing.
The force will be named after the World War I-era Jewish underground organisation “Nili” – an acronym for a Hebrew phrase which translates as “the Eternal One of Israel will not lie.”
Nili members will function independently from other Command and Control units that are focused on neutralising strike cells and high-ranking terrorists, The Jerusalem Post reports.
This particular mission is deemed "distinct" as it will encompass both field operatives and intelligence personnel.
Israel warned that every Hamas member are dead men walking, with two accused masterminds of the October 7 attacks at the top of the hit list: Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif and political leader Yahya Sinwar.
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Security sources believe the pair are embedded in a network of tunnels built to resist Israeli bombardment as they have reportedly spent years operating in the shadows, Daily Telegraph Australia reports.
Nicknamed "The Face of Evil" by Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, Sinwar was a founding member of Hamas in 1987 and rose through the ranks ever since.
The 61-year-old was elected Hamas leader in Gaza in 2017 after Ismail Haniyeh became the group's supreme leader.
Born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza, Sinwar was added to the United States’ list of most wanted “international terrorists” in 2015.
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Born in the same refugee camp, Deif has been accused of organising suicide attacks, kidnappings and other raids.
His assumed name means “Guest” in Arabic and he reportedly never spends more than one night in the same place.
Enemies have dubbed him the “cat with nine lives” as he has survived at least six attempts to kill him.
An audio message from Deif was transmitted by Hamas media on the morning of the attacks dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
“The rage of our people and our nation is exploding,” he said.
Despite the country's efforts to wipe out Hamas, experts say killing Sinwar and Deif would "severely weaken but not crush" the terrorist group.
“Sinwar and Deif are clearly first priority leadership, the loss of which would damage Hamas, but one presumes that the group has contingencies about their loss,” said H.A. Hellyer, an international security specialist at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
It comes as other key Hamas figures were killed this week.
A senior Hamas commander was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike which blew him up along with his wife.
Talal al-Hindi, a field commander in brutal al-Qassam brigades – Hamas' military wing – was killed in a strike in the Gaza Strip, according to a news agency linked to the terror group.
He is understood to have been killed at his home while sheltering with his wife Fadwa, his daughter Israa, and her daughter Baraa.
Al-Hindi's reported death comes just days after fellow Hamas commander, Jehad Mheisen, was also blown up after an Israeli airstrike on his house.
The top commander was killed with his family in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan, a Hamas-aligned news agency said.
A third Hamas top commander, Ayman Nofal, was also blown up in an Israeli airstrike.
Ayman Nofal, who was in charge of the Central Gaza area in the armed wing Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, the most high-profile Hamas militant to be assassinated so far.
Nofal's death came hours after the IDF confirmed it had killed senior Hamas official Dr Osama Mazini.
Amid its efforts to wipe out Hamas terrorists, Israel has also vowed to ramp up airstrikes on Gaza as it prepares for the "next stage of war".
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said bombing raids will be crucial in "minimising danger" to create the "best conditions" for invasion.
Tens of thousands of troops and huge columns of tanks remain massed on the Israel-Gaza border awaiting orders.
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Speaking at a press conference on Saturday night, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said: “We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions, not according to what anyone tells us.
"From today, we are increasing the strikes and minimising the danger."
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