IDF eliminates Hamas terrorist who led one of deadliest attacks of war

The Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that it had eliminated Khalil Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, a senior Hamas terrorist responsible for an attack that killed 21 Israeli troops on Jan. 22, 2024.

Khatib, a cell commander in Hamas’s Al Mawasi battalion, was killed in a joint operation of the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), according to the military.

“During a reconnaissance mission, following an intelligence-gathering effort, IDF troops identified the terrorist and then directed an aircraft which struck and eliminated him,” the IDF stated.

Khatib commanded a terrorist cell that on June 22, 2024 launched anti-tank missiles at buildings in which Israeli soldiers were operating, as well as at an IDF tank squad securing the area, killing 21 soldiers, the military said.

A total of 24 soldiers were killed in two separate Hamas attacks that day, marking one of the deadliest days for the army since it launched the ground invasion in Gaza in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Throughout the war, Khatib was “involved in and advanced numerous terror attacks against IDF troops,” according to the Sunday statement.

The IDF’s “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” against Hamas continued on Sunday, with Israeli forces eliminating terrorists and dismantling terror infrastructure both above and below ground.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of terror targets, including Hamas operatives, booby-trapped structures, underground routes, sniper and anti-tank missile firing positions.

On Saturday, soldiers dismantled the booby-trapped structure in which Staff Sgt. Danilo Mocanu, 20, was killed on May 20. Another soldier was lightly wounded when the building collapsed following the detonation.

“IDF troops are continuing to operate against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip in order to protect Israeli civilians,” the military stated.

On Friday, the IDF said that soldiers operating in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis area had identified and destroyed an extensive Hamas terrorist tunnel network.

The tunnel network, discovered with the help of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Yahalom Combat Engineering special forces unit, was situated in a residential neighborhood, the IDF said.

During a search of the structure before its demolition, the troops identified several terrorists barricaded inside and killed them.