Israel says it killed Iranian commander who helped fund, arm Hamas

The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday said it had killed an Iranian commander who for years helped arm and fund Hamas on behalf of the regime. 

Saeed Izadi, commander of the Palestine Corps in the Quds Force, was killed early Saturday during an Israeli strike in the city of Qom. 

Izadi was also "one of the orchestrators" of the Oct. 7, 2023, unprovoked Hamas attack on Israel, according to BBC News. 

"The blood of thousands of Israelis is on his hands," IDF chief Eyal Zamir said in a statement, calling it a "tremendous intelligence and operational achievement."

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Following the killing of Mohammed Sinwar, the head of Hamas’ armed wing, at a hospital in Gaza in May, a joint operation between the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) discovered an underground command center underneath the hospital.

Israeli troops found documents in the command center revealing that Hamas’ military wing had maintained contact with Izadi in recent months, including Sinwar. 

Correspondence between Sinwar and Izadi planning an operation in which Izadi would arm Hamas with $21 million in weapons followed by an additional $25 million in weapons was found in the command center, the IDF said. 

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"Due to the intensive efforts of the Southern Command, the Intelligence Directorate and the ISA, these two projects to arm Hamas’s military wing in the Gaza Strip with advanced weapons worth tens of millions of dollars did not come to fruition," the IDF said. 

Izadi had been sanctioned by the U.S. and U.K. over his ties to the Palestinian militant faction Islamic Jihad, which also helped plan the Oct. 7 terror attacks. 

The IDF said later Saturday that it also had killed a second Iranian commander, Benham Shariyari, during a strike on his vehicle in Tehran.

Shariyari had been "responsible for all weapons transfers from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East," including missiles and rockets launched by Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis at Israel, the IDF said. 

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"Since the outbreak of the war, the IDF has been working to dismantle the military capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization. The IDF will continue to act against any attempt by the Iranian regime to arm and fund the terrorist organizations that threaten the State of Israel and its civilians," the IDF said. "The elimination of Izadi constitutes a significant blow to the Iranian regime’s weapons supply and terror financing network."