The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed the elimination of two Hamas terrorists in targeted airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip.
“Earlier today, in the central Gaza Strip, the IDF eliminated Anas Khaled Safi, a Hamas terrorist who was planning to carry out an attack against IDF troops within the immediate timeframe,” the military said in a statement.
Meanwhile, an airstrike on Sunday killed Ayman Housna, described by the statement as a terrorist who “manufactured and repaired weapons used by Hamas terrorists to carry out attacks against IDF troops.”
“Both terrorists posed an immediate threat to the troops and were eliminated in precise aerial strikes,” the IDF stated, adding: “Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.”
Soldiers remain deployed in the enclave in accordance with the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement “and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it declared.
On Friday, troops of the Negev Reserve Infantry Brigade killed a Gazan terrorist in the southern Strip who crossed the Yellow Line and posed a threat to soldiers.
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 approximately half of Gaza.
Under the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Gaza is to be deradicalized and demilitarized, with the deployment of an International Stabilization Force to parts of the Strip currently held by the Israeli military.
Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for the Gaza Strip on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, told Reuters on Monday that discussions with Hamas terrorists about disarmament had been “very serious” but “not easy” over the past weeks.
Top Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Musa Abu Marzouk, have rejected key parts of Trump’s plan in recent months, including disarmament, despite having agreed to the proposal in October.
However, Mladenov told Reuters on Monday that he was “fairly optimistic that we will be able to come up with an arrangement that works for all sides and, most importantly, works for the people in Gaza.”
“It obviously will take time, but we’re trying to make sure that the arrangements for the implementation of the plan are agreed to as quickly as possible,” the Board of Peace official said.
Asked about when a deal could be reached on implementation, Mladenov told Reuters: “We have a matter of days, maximum a couple of weeks, that is my assessment, because otherwise we will lose the momentum of what we have, and then every decision will become even more difficult.”
Senior U.S. officials joined direct talks with Hamas in Cairo last week for the first time since the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire deal with the Palestinian terrorist organization, according to CNN.
A delegation led by senior Trump administration official Aryeh Lightstone met with leading Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya on April 14, two Hamas sources told the broadcaster. Lightstone was joined by Mladenov, per the report.
Al-Hayya pressed Lightstone regarding the need for Jerusalem to fully implement its commitments to the first phase of the U.S.-brokered truce, including an end to airstrikes and the entry of more aid into Gaza, before moving to the deal’s next phase, the sources told CNN.
