The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday that it had eliminated three Hamas commanders in two separate airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, including a Nukhba Force commander who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
According to the IDF, Muhannad Asaad Mahmoud Abu Ghazal, a Nukhba Force cell commander, was killed in a strike in central Gaza on July 20. The statement said Abu Ghazal infiltrated the Kissufim area during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
In a separate strike on July 21 in the northern Strip, the IDF eliminated Raed Hani Mohammed Al-Amsi, who commanded an aerial surveillance platoon in Hamas’s Aerial Array, the military stated.
The same strike also killed Nabhan Mohammed Nabhan Al-Amsi, head of the Military Intelligence Desk in Hamas’s Gaza Brigade, it said.
“Throughout the war and in recent months, the terrorists operated to advance terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the statement added. “The terrorists were eliminated in precise aerial strikes in order to remove the threat.”
The military said it took steps to reduce harm to noncombatants before conducting the strikes, including using precision-guided munitions and aerial surveillance.
In a separate statement on Sunday, the IDF said a July 21 strike in northern Gaza killed Fares al-Masri, whom it identified as a department head in Hamas’s Weapons Production Headquarters.
“Al-Masri was involved in manufacturing weapons as part of Hamas’s efforts to rebuild its military capabilities, in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” it stated.
In another strike in the northern Strip on July 21, the military killed Muhammad Abu Shakyan, identified by the IDF as a Nukhba Force terrorist.
“In recent months, both terrorists had been involved in advancing terrorist attack plans targeting IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” said the army. “They were eliminated in order to remove the threat.”
On Friday, the IDF said it struck and dismantled weapons storage facilities, a weapons manufacturing site and underground terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas.
The storage facilities contained Kalashnikov rifles, RPG launchers, mortar shells, explosive devices and additional military equipment.
“The Hamas terrorist organization continues to systematically and flagrantly violate the ceasefire agreement while attempting to rebuild its military capabilities and terrorist infrastructure,” the army added.
Israeli forces remain deployed in Gaza in accordance with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement and will continue to eliminate any immediate threats, the Saturday statement stressed.
The current truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2025, ending the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023. The terms of the first phase leave the Israel Defense Forces in control of over half of Gaza.
