The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday eliminated a Hamas commander responsible for transporting weapons and other combat equipment used in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the military said on Wednesday.
Yahya Abu Labda, a commander in the terror organization’s supply and logistics department, “transported dozens of tons of raw materials to manufacture rockets, as well as advanced electronic components to advance Hamas’s manufacturing capabilities,” according to the IDF.
“The equipment was subsequently used by Hamas during the October 7th attack,” in which thousands of terrorists, led by Hamas, infiltrated Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 people, primarily Jewish civilians.
On Monday, the military announced it eliminated Younes Mohammed Hussein Alia, the naval array commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade, saying he was planning to carry out imminent terror attacks.
“As part of his role, Alian was responsible for operating the brigade’s naval forces and advancing the unit’s force build-up. In addition, he oversaw the training and preparation of the unit’s terrorists and managed the readiness of its weaponry,” the IDF charged.
“He was targeted due to posing a real threat to IDF troops,” the army stated. “Prior to the strikes, measures were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.”
“IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it added.
On Sunday, the IDF struck a Hamas cell that had been planning an attack, killing seven, including two who infiltrated on Oct. 7, 2023.
Rami Ibrahim Harb and Mutaeb Ziyad Darah, both members of Hamas’s Nukhba Force, “infiltrated into Israeli territory during the brutal October 7th massacre,” the IDF said in a Monday statement.
A ceasefire went into effect in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 10, 2025, ending the two-year war that started when Hamas, other Palestinian terror groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the western Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, and slaughtered approximately 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others.
