IDF confirms killing Hamas commander who held multiple Israelis hostage in Gaza

The IDF announced Friday that a Hamas commander who invaded Israel on October 7 and held multiple Israelis hostage in Gaza was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike.

According to the military, Muhammad Bassam Mushtaha, a commander in Hamas’s Al-Shati battalion, was killed as a result of an airstrike in northern Gaza two weeks ago, on July 30.

Palestinian media outlets had reported last week that he died of his wounds several days after the strike.

The IDF says that Mushtaha was responsible for holding a number of Israelis captive who were kidnapped on October 7, 2023, including Tsachi Idan — who was slain in captivity in December 2023 — Cpl. Noa Marciano, who was killed in Gaza in November 2023, as well as Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, Ori Megidish, Naama Levy and Matan Angrest — who were all later freed or rescued.

In recent weeks, Mushtaha “attempted to advance terrorist plots against IDF forces and citizens of the State of Israel,” and therefore was targeted, the military said.

The claim that Mushtaha was struck in self-defense rather than revenge means that the killing was legitimate under the terms of the ongoing US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which limits Israeli operations to responding to violations of the truce, including by thwarting plans by terror operatives to attack troops.

An analysis by The Times of Israel last month found that the IDF has in the past few months stepped up a large-scale retribution campaign with the avowed aim of hunting down and eliminating every single terrorist who took part in the October 7 massacre.

Separately on Friday, the military said that a Hamas company commander who was advancing attacks against Israeli troops was struck and killed in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.

It said the strike in Khan Younis killed Hudhaifa Khaled Suleiman Qawari, a commander in Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade.

During the war, Qawari had been involved in training Hamas terrorists, transporting weapons and acting to restore the group’s capabilities, according to the IDF.

As with Mushtaha, the IDF justified the strike amid the ceasefire by saying that Qawari had recently been advancing attacks on troops. “The terrorist posed a threat to our forces and was eliminated in an aerial strike,” the army said.

In a third instance justified as self-defense rather than retaliation, the IDF said on Thursday evening that a Hamas commander who invaded Israel during the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in a strike in Gaza City earlier in the day.

The military named the commander as Jamal Mahmoud Abu Kamil. Recently, according to the IDF, Abu Kamil was advancing attacks against troops, and he was targeted to “remove a threat.”

Earlier, the Hamas-run interior ministry identified Abu Kamil as Gaza’s police chief.