IDF slays Hamas naval terrorist who took part in Oct. 7 massacre

Israeli security forces fighting in the Gaza Strip killed a member of Hamas’s naval commando unit who infiltrated the Jewish state through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the IDF said on Sunday evening.

Hamas operative Ahmad Osama Hassan al-Lahwani was killed in a joint counter-terrorism operation by the IDF’s Southern Command, Military Intelligence Directorate, Air Force and Navy, and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), according to the army statement.

Israeli Navy forces “continue to operate in defensive and offensive missions from the sea across all arenas,” including as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” against Hamas in Gaza, the IDF emphasized on Sunday night.

Patrol and missile boats “carry out offensive missions from the sea, working in close cooperation with [ground] maneuvering forces under IDF Southern Command,” the military stated, adding that the Navy’s “operational headquarters is leading the offensive missions against the naval forces of the terrorist organizations” in the Strip.

Meanwhile, the IDF revealed on Sunday that ground forces managed to eliminate a terrorist cell four minutes after it seriously wounded an Israeli soldier last week. The military shared footage of the incident.

“Last week, a tank commander from the 52nd Battalion was seriously wounded during clashes with a Hamas terrorist cell in the northern Gaza Strip,” the statement read. “The force engaged, charged and eliminated several terrorists from the cell in only four minutes.

“Shortly afterward, an Air Force aircraft, in coordination with the 401st Brigade’s fire unit, closed the circle and eliminated the remaining terrorists in the cell,” the IDF statement continued.

On Saturday evening, another soldier—from the Nahal Infantry Brigade’s 931st Battalion—was seriously wounded in northern Gaza, it said.

“Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” launched on May 16, is a large-scale IDF campaign against the remaining Hamas and Islamic Jihad strongholds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated that the ground offensive in Gaza is aimed at establishing complete and lasting Israeli security control throughout the entire Strip.

He further stated that the war would continue until Hamas is disarmed and its leadership is either killed or exiled.