The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced Thursday that they had killed a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre, abducted Israeli civilians and later helped hold them captive in the Gaza Strip.
Waheed Abu Salam, who had served as commander of the Western Company in Khan Yunis, was killed in a joint IDF-Shin Bet airstrike in southern Gaza on Tuesday, according to the joint statement.
The military said Abu Salam crossed into Israel during the Oct. 7 attack, participated in the kidnapping of Israeli civilians and was involved in holding hostages in southern Gaza throughout the war.
In recent months, he planned additional attacks, including efforts to restore weapons capabilities intended to target IDF troops operating in the area.
The IDF said Abu Salam posed an immediate threat and was killed in a precise aerial strike.
In a separate strike on Wednesday in southern Gaza, the IDF eliminated Rashid al-Qadhi, a commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s weapons production array.
According to the military, al-Qadhi played a central role in the terrorist organization’s weapons production network, which is responsible for manufacturing and supplying arms to its “military wing.” He oversaw efforts to produce weapons intended for attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops.
In another strike on Wednesday in northern Gaza, Israeli forces killed Abdullah Baha al-Din Razak al-Souti, a sniper operative in Hamas’s “military wing.”
The IDF said the terrorists’ recent activities posed a threat to Israeli forces and that the strikes were carried out to remove those threats.
The military said it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision-guided munitions and aerial surveillance.
IDF troops under Southern Command remain deployed in the Gaza Strip in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue operating to remove any immediate threat, the military said.
