An Israeli Air Force strike in the Gaza Strip killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Ahmed al-Dalu, who participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday.
Al-Dalu, a member of the Iranian-backed terrorist organization’s Military Intelligence Unit, was eliminated in an airstrike directed by IDF ground troops and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officers, the military said.
“An additional terrorist was eliminated alongside him. Throughout the war, al-Dalu was involved in planning and executing terrorist attacks against the citizens of the State of Israel,” the IDF statement said.
Kfar Aza was the scene of some of the worst atrocities on Oct. 7. About 10% of its 900 residents were killed or taken hostage during the Gazan invasion of the northwestern Negev, which left some 1,200 people dead and 251 others taken to the Strip.
The IDF also said on Monday that over the past day its 252nd “Sinai” Division (a reserve force) and 162nd “Steel Formation” Armored Division killed “many” terrorists in close-quarters fighting and by calling in IAF strikes. In addition, they destroyed terrorist infrastructure.
Nahal Brigade infantrymen, operating under the command of the 143rd “Gaza” Division, killed Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives in the Strip’s southernmost Rafah area, the IDF said.
“Over the past day, forces identified a terrorist squad that was operating from a military building where mines were stored that were intended to harm our forces,” the statement added. “Forces directed an IAF aircraft that attacked and eliminated the terrorists and destroyed the weapons.”
Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on Oct. 27, 2023, following a weeks-long air campaign in response to the Oct. 7 massacre. Jerusalem’s stated goals for the war are to destroy Hamas as a military and governing force in the Strip, ensure that it cannot threaten Israel again and return all hostages.
Returning the 101 remaining captives has become the “most important mission” in Gaza, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared during an Oct. 30, 2024, visit to the site where IDF soldiers killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
The IDF death toll in Gaza since the start of the ground operation stands at 368, while the figure on all fronts since Oct. 7, 2023, is 780.
Additionally, Ch. Insp. Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzhak was mortally wounded in the Strip in May.
