Israeli security chief in recording vows to hunt down Hamas abroad: Report

Israel will hunt down Hamas even in Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon even if it takes years, the head of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet said in a recording aired by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Sunday.

It was unclear when Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar made the remarks or to whom.

The agency itself declined to comment on the report.

Israel launched dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday after a temporary truce with Hamas expired.

The violence took place despite calls from the United States – Israel’s closest ally – for Israel to limit harm to Palestinian civilians in the new phase of its offensive, focused on the south.

More than 15,523 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry, in nearly two months of warfare that broke out after a Hamas cross-border raid on southern Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 240 taken hostage.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas. The Iranian-backed group is sworn to Israel’s destruction. The initial Hamas attack and the ensuing war amount to the bloodiest episode in the decades-old wider Israel-Palestinian conflict.