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Israel says Hamas commander who led attack in Nirim killed in airstrike, shares video
The Israeli military said it killed a commander of Hamas' elite Nukhba Force who led the attack on the two Israeli border villages.
The Israeli military on Sunday said it has killed another Hamas commander who led the murderous attacks on the two Israeli border villages of Nirim and Nir Oz. Acting on intelligence provided by the Israel Security Agency, Billal Al-Qedra, the commander of the so-called Nukhba unit's southern Khan Yunis battalion, was killed in an airstrike, the Israel Air Force (IAF) said.
"As part of the extensive IDF strikes of senior operatives and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and ISA killed the Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis, who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre," the IAF said in a series of social media posts on X.
The Israeli military also conducted airstrikes on over one hundred military targets -- primarily situated in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya-- in the Gaza Strip. The IDF said that the strikes were designed to cripple the operational capabilities of the Hamas and to disrupt their ability to launch attacks on Israeli territory.
The targets included operational command centres, military compounds, dozens of launchers, anti-tank missile launch posts, and observation posts used by Hamas.
The IDF on Saturday said it has killed a commander in Hamas's commando forces who led one of the attacks on southern Israel communities last week. Ali Qadi was killed in a drone strike following intelligence efforts by the Shin Bet security agency and Military Intelligence Directorate. The IDF said Qadi was arrested by Israel in 2005 over the kidnapping and murder of Israeli civilians and had been released to the Gaza Strip as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
Israel has fired thousands of missiles at northern Gaza.
"Localised" raids have also taken place, as Israeli troops encircle the Gaza Strip, said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus on Saturday.
"We will likely evolve into additional significant combat operations," he added. “When we do so, remember how this started... all of this is Hamas-made.”
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israeli civilians have killed at least 2,329 people, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Sunday.
