The Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that it had killed a Hamas commander who infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
Salem Jamal Abd al-Rahman Abu Labad, identified by the IDF as a Nukhba Force cell commander, was killed in an airstrike in southern Gaza on Saturday, the military said.
In a separate strike in central Gaza on Friday, the IDF killed Muhammad Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, a commander in Hamas’s al-Maghazi Battalion, a unit of the terrorist group’s Central Brigade responsible for the al-Maghazi camp and surrounding areas in central Gaza, according to the statement.
“The terrorists posed a threat to the troops and were eliminated in precise aerial strikes in order to remove the threat,” the IDF said.
Last week, the IDF also killed a commander from the Kataeb al-Mujahideen terrorist group in the southern Gaza Strip who took part in the abduction of Israeli hostages Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or during the Oct. 7 attack. Additionally, forces killed a Hamas commander who operated simultaneously as a doctor in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, holding Israeli civilian Romi Gonen captive and hiding the body of Cpl. Noa Marciano following her murder.
IDF destroys five Hamas weapons depots across Gaza
The IDF, directed by intelligence from the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet), destroyed five Hamas weapons depots across the Gaza Strip in overnight strikes, the military said on Saturday.
The sites contained Kalashnikov rifles, explosive devices, anti-tank missile launchers, ammunition and other military equipment.
One of the depots, located adjacent to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza, also served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists, according to the IDF. The military said the weapons were intended for attacks against troops operating near the ceasefire line and Israeli civilians.
It added that advance warnings, precision munitions and aerial surveillance were used to reduce the risk of harm to noncombatants.
Danon: Hamas weapons must be removed entirely from Gaza
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday that any plan for Gaza must ensure Hamas is fully disarmed, rejecting proposals that would merely relocate its weapons.
In an X post that included a video excerpt from an earlier interview with CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer, Danny Danon said “disarmament is not transferring weapons from one warehouse to another,” stressing that arms must be removed entirely from the Gaza Strip so Hamas cannot “use them or even touch them.”
Israel supports the current plan, said Danon, noting the Israeli Cabinet last week approved the entry of an International Stabilization Force into Gaza as part of the agreement. He added that implementation must be judged “by what is happening on the ground, not what Hamas is saying. You know, no one trusts a terrorist organization. You have to verify what they are doing, not what they are saying.”
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the Board of Peace, which he chairs, reached an agreement with Hamas for the complete disarmament of the terrorist groups that rule and control the Gaza Strip.
It was a “major milestone in the implementation” of his 20-point plan to bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war and begin the recovery process in the enclave, he said.
The pact will be implemented in phases, as the IDF withdraws as disarmament progresses, according to Trump.
An International Stabilization Force under the auspices of the Board of Peace is to work in tandem with a newly built Palestinian police force to provide security.
Trump on Friday commended the 15-point Roadmap for implementing his Comprehensive Peace Plan in Gaza made public the previous day by the Board of Peace, saying that nobody ever thought it possible to disarm Hamas.
“It’s a great breakthrough ... That shows you how much success we’re having with Iran, because if you go four months ago, five months ago, a deal like that would’ve been impossible. So it’s a big step for the Middle East and people are really impressed by it,” Trump told reporters at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he held a meeting with his Cabinet.
He added that “Israel is very happy” with the roadmap.
“Will it go through its ups and downs? It’s a very complex situation over there; the people are very complex and difficult. Many cases wonderful, many cases not so wonderful,” Trump added.
