Hamas says Israeli claim of killing top military leader Marwan Issa not confirmed

Several top Hamas officials have stated that Israel's claim that its military killed Hamas military leader Marwan Issa in a strike earlier this month has not been confirmed by the group.

Issa is a top official in al-Qassam Brigades, and if he is killed it would mean the death of the most senior Hamas official since October.

Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera that the political bureau hasn’t seen evidence of Issa's death.

“Everyone knows since day one, the Israelis have been saying they want to target Qassam Brigades and other commanders. However, in the absence of an official statement confirming the martyrdom, one cannot confirm such information,” Hamdan said.

“This information is not usually shared inside the movement. The safety and whereabouts of the commanders is not something exchanged internally. The information published by the enemy is not deemed confirmed. It could very well be part of the psychological war being waged by the occupation against the Palestinian people.”

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said that there "no confidence" in the claim made by Israel, and said that Issa's death needs to be confirmed by Hamas' military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.