Israeli forces killed a Nukhba platoon commander who infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and later sought to carry out additional assaults on Israeli forces, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.
According to the military, Ali Qaid Mohammed Stitan, a commander in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, was killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on Monday.
The IDF said Stitan infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7 massacre and continued throughout the war, including in recent days, to plan attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians. The military described him as an ongoing threat to forces operating in Gaza.
In a separate strike on Monday, the IDF killed the commander of Hamas’s Yibna Battalion in the Rafah Brigade, Mohammad Fathi Abd al-Hay Abu Fakher, in a strike in southern Gaza, according to Tuesday’s joint IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) statement.
🔴ELIMINATED: Mohammad Fathi Abd al-Hay Abu Fakher, Commander of the Yibna Battalion in Hamas' Rafah Brigade.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 30, 2026
Abu Fakher was a veteran Hamas commander, a key figure in its smuggling network and one of the senior officials in the Supply Department of Hamas’ military wing.
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The IDF and Shin Bet said that in recent weeks Abu Fakher had been recruiting operatives, overseeing their training and working to rebuild the battalion’s capabilities to carry out attacks against Israeli forces.
Abu Fakher was described as a veteran Hamas commander and a senior figure in the group’s military wing supply apparatus. For roughly two decades, he played a central role in Hamas’s weapons smuggling network, managing the transfer of arms into the Gaza Strip and overseeing logistical support for the organization’s operations.
In another strike on Monday, Israeli forces targeted and dismantled launch shafts and launchers used by Hamas to carry out attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, the military said.
Four Hamas terrorists killed, launch shafts dismantled
Israeli forces killed four Hamas terrorists and dismantled launch infrastructure used to target Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip over the past week, the IDF said on Wednesday.
According to the military, the terrorists killed were identified as Wael Mahmoud Ali Labad and Muaz Mohammad Hassan Ahmad, both anti-tank operatives; Sameh Abu Kamil, a platoon commander; and Akram Ashraf Hamad Labad, a sniper, all members of Hamas’s military wing.
The IDF said the terrorists had been advancing attacks against troops operating in Gaza.
