The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday killed a Hamas terrorist responsible for the murder of Israeli soldier Noa Marciano, who was held hostage in Gaza, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said in a joint statement.
Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, described as the head of a Hamas terrorist cell, was targeted in an airstrike following intelligence gathered by the IDF’s Gaza Division, where Marciano had served as a corporal and field observer, also known as a lookout or spotter, at the Nahal Oz outpost.
🔴 ELIMINATED: Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, head of a Hamas terror cell, who brutally murdered IDF observer Corporal Noa Marciano while she was held in captivity.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 4, 2026
In response to a blatant ceasefire violation, the IDF & ISA carried out the strike. Marciano was abducted from… pic.twitter.com/DcKK0bsz14
Al-Habil killed Marciano while she was held captive by Hamas, the agencies said interrogations revealed.
Her abduction and murder became one of the most widely known hostage cases stemming from Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, in which terrorists killed about 1,200 people and triggered a two-year war.
The IDF and Shin Bet said the strike “brings closure for the Marciano family” and vowed to continue pursuing all those involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Islamic Jihad, Hamas Nukhba commanders killed
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli forces also killed Ali Raziana, commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Northern Gaza Brigade, in a strike following what Israel called a “blatant violation” of the current ceasefire.
Raziana oversaw the deployment of Islamic Jihad gunmen and the defensive layout of the group’s Northern Gaza Brigade, and sat on its military council. He also coordinated with Hamas to plan and carry out attacks on IDF troops.
🔴ELIMINATED: Ali Raziana, the Islamic Jihad commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 4, 2026
The strike was conducted in response to the blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement overnight.
In Ali Raziana’s role, he was responsible for the deployment of the organization’s… pic.twitter.com/GF9j3WSgIn
During the war, he supervised the holding of hostages by Islamic Jihad in northern Gaza and, after the ceasefire took effect, worked to rebuild the brigade’s capabilities.
The military also confirmed the killing of a Hamas Nukhba platoon commander in a separate strike in southern Gaza earlier Wednesday.
Bilal Abu Assi led the Oct. 7 infiltration of Kibbutz Nir Oz, where dozens of civilians were murdered and abducted. The IDF said he is also believed to have helped hold the bodies of Israeli hostages during the war and directed additional attacks on Israeli forces.
🔴 TARGETED: Bilal Abu Assi, a Hamas Nukhba Platoon Commander who led the infiltration into Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 Massacre, as well as likely taking part in holding deceased hostages captive throughout the war and leading terror attacks against IDF troops throughout… pic.twitter.com/6Z7L0i4p34
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 4, 2026
He was killed in an airstrike in southern Gaza on Wednesday after terrorists opened fire overnight at Israeli troops in the north, seriously wounding a reserve officer, according to the military.
The IDF said it is aware of reports that several uninvolved civilians, including a medical worker, were killed in the strike, and added that it used surveillance and precision munitions in an effort to limit civilian casualties while continuing operations against Hamas and other armed groups.
“These strikes targeted terrorists involved in severe attacks against the State of Israel and its civilians,” the IDF and Shin Bet statement said. “The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to operate against any attempt to carry out terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.”
Hamas using ambulances to move terrorists, arms
Surveillance drones have documented Hamas fighters repeatedly using ambulances in northern Gaza to move gunmen and weapons between a hospital and a nearby school, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.
The footage was captured in the Jabalia area along the so-called Yellow Line during routine drone operations, the IDF said. According to the military, the vehicles were used multiple times as cover for armed terrorists shuttling between the two civilian sites.
Israel says the findings are further evidence of Hamas’s systematic exploitation of medical and educational facilities, and Gaza’s civilian population, for military purposes. It added that since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas has violated the agreement and concentrated on rebuilding its forces.
The IDF said it will continue to act against terrorist infrastructure embedded in hospitals, schools and other civilian institutions while operating in line with international law.
IDF soldier wounded in Gaza
On Tuesday night, an Israel Defense Forces reservist was seriously wounded by terrorist fire in northern Gaza, in what the military called a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement by Hamas.
The attack occurred during “operational activity near the Yellow Line in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said on Wednesday, adding that the soldier was evacuated to an Israeli hospital.
The Yellow Line is a demarcation established by the IDF as part of the U.S.-brokered truce with Hamas that went into effect in October.
Upon identifying the source of the fire, IDF armored units and Israeli Air Force craft carried out precise strikes in the area.
The incident occurred in the Daraj Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, near the cemetery where the body of slain Israeli hostage Ran Gvili was discovered on Jan. 26, Ynet reported.
Also on Tuesday, the IDF revealed that troops operating in the southern Strip found more than 100 mortar shells, several rockets and other weapons hidden inside blankets and sacks marked as UNRWA humanitarian aid.
On Monday, Israeli troops operating in northern Gaza killed four terrorists adjacent to the Yellow Line. The terrorists had approached troops, posing an imminent threat to them, the IDF said.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff on Jan. 14 announced the start of Phase 2 of the Trump administration’s 20-point plan, which seeks to shift “from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction” of Hamas and Gaza.
