IDF slays Hamas platoon chief who held hostages after Oct. 7

The Israel Defense Forces said on Friday that it eliminated the previous day, in the Nuseirat camp area in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas platoon commander who took part in holding “numerous hostages” at the beginning of the war begun by the Hamas-led cross-border attacks on the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

The terrorist, Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, held, among others, Noa Argamani, Ohad Ben Ami, Emily Hand, Maxim Herkin, Almog Meir Jan, Segev Kalfon, Andrey Kozlov, Alexander Lobanov—who was murdered by his captors in a tunnel in Rafah on Aug. 29, 2024—Yosef Haim Ohana, Raya Rotem, Hila Rotem Shoshani and Shlomi Ziv, according to the IDF.

Ibrahim Gihad Muhammad Abu Oshaiba, a platoon commander in Hamas’s “military” wing, was also killed in the strike, the army said.

Recently, the terrorists advanced attacks on Israeli civilians and IDF troops and operated to restore Hamas’s terrorist capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” the IDF said.

Earlier on Friday, the IDF said that it killed four Hamas terrorists in two separate strikes in the Khan Yunis and Rafah areas of the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Those killed included a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force and a Hamas commander, the army said.

The strikes were carried out to eliminate the threat they posed, the military added.

Also on Friday, the IDF said it dismantled two weapons storage facilities used by Hamas’s “military” wing in the Bureij and Gaza City areas.

The facilities contained dozens of weapons and other military equipment, including RPGs, explosive devices, rockets, Kalashnikov rifles, grenades and ammunition magazines, the military said.

IDF slays three Hamas commanders

On Wednesday, the Israeli military stated its forces killed three Hamas commanders in separate airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 25-26, including two who participated in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.

Anas Akram Muhammad Humaida, a commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force who infiltrated the Sufa military outpost on Oct. 7, was killed Sunday near Khan Yunis, according to the IDF.

Ashraf Mahmoud Yusuf Dahlan, a company commander in Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion who also infiltrated Israel during the massacre, was killed the same day in Gaza City.

Mahmoud Othman Abdullah Alwan, a Nukhba commander in the West Jabalia Battalion, was killed Monday in Gaza City.

The IDF said the terrorists had been planning attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and working to rebuild Hamas’s capabilities in violation of the ceasefire.

Before the strikes, measures were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance, the army added.

Freed hostages Aviva, Keith Siegel welcome new granddaughter

Former Hamas hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel have welcomed a granddaughter after their daughter Shir gave birth.

Shir and her husband, Yuval Bar-On, married in August 2025 after postponing their wedding until Keith returned from captivity.

Aviva and Keith were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Aviva was freed in November 2023 after 51 days in captivity, while Keith was released on Feb. 1, 2025, after 484 days.

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