Israel claims Hamas commanders that helped coordinate surprise attack have been killed

Lauren Irwin
·2 min read
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claim to have killed two leading Hamas commanders who helped coordinate last week’s attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.

“Based on precise IDF and ISA [Israel Security Authority] intelligence, IDF aircraft killed Ali Qadi, a company commander of the Hamas ‘Nukhba’ commando force, who led the terror attack in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip last weekend,” an IDF post stated on Saturday.

Israel’s military claims Qadi was apprehended in 2005 following the kidnapping and murder of Israeli civilians. He was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, the post said.

The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange saw Hamas release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Israel’s release of more than 1,000 prisoners, most of whom were Palestinians or Arab-Israelis.

In a separate post, the IDF said fighter jets conducted wide scale strikes throughout the Gaza Strip on Friday night. Jets also struck Hamas headquarters, where the group managed aerial activity, the IDF said.

“During the strike, IDF fighter jets killed Merad Aby Merad who was the head of the Hamas Aerial System in Gaza City, and was largely responsible for directing terrorists during the massacre on Saturday,” the post said.

Hamas has not mentioned or confirmed the deaths of either Qadi or Aby Merad.

The Israeli military is expected to escalate its counteroffensive against the militant group Hamas in retaliation for the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

On Friday, they gave an evacuation order to 1 million residents in Gaza City, telling them to leave the area in 24 hours. Israel has already slammed the small strip of land with deadly airstrikes for nearly a week. At least 1,900 people have been killed in the counterattack and thousands more are injured.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Friday that “it’s only the beginning.” In an early message to the public, Netanyahu vowed to forcefully destroy Hamas and avenge the attacks in a war that he expected to be long and difficult.

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