IDF says it killed a Hamas commander who led Oct. 7 assault on border post
Military says Mohammad Mahmoud Marshad al-Qadi also held hostages; captured Hamas internal security chief said cooperating with interrogators, providing ‘intelligence gold mine’
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The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday that a Hamas commander who led the invasion of the Israeli military’s Sufa post on the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, as well as held hostages in captivity, was killed in an airstrike this week.
The IDF strike on Wednesday in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis killed Mohammad Mahmoud Marshad al-Qadi, a company commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, according to the military.
During the October 7 onslaught, al-Qadi led the raid on the Sufa army post, the IDF said, and that during the war he held hostages in the Rafah area.
The military added that al-Qadi had recently been leading training of Hamas terrorists to restore the terror group’s capabilities, and advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians “in a systematic violation of the ceasefire.”
“The terrorist was eliminated to remove the threat he posed,” the IDF said.
Despite the ongoing ceasefire, the military has pushed ahead with a campaign to kill every Gaza terrorist who was involved in the October 7 massacre.
While Israel has acknowledged the campaign and vowed it would continue until the last of those involved are dead, the military has frequently justified the killings in terms of ceasefire violations.
????ELIMINATED: Muhammad Mahmoud Marshad Al-Qadi, a Nukhba company commander in Hamas' military wing, who infiltrated the Sufa outpost during the October 7 Massacre & commanded the infiltration of the outpost.
Throughout the war, he took part in holding hostages in Hamas… pic.twitter.com/Qqvk2Fx1jw
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 4, 2026
Also on Friday, Israeli forces operating in an area of northern Gaza under military control came under fire, according to the IDF, which called the attack “a brazen violation of the ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.
No troops were injured by the gunfire, which the army says it responded to by “attacking in the area.”
“The IDF takes a grave view of the attempts by terror groups in the Gaza Strip to advance and execute terror plots against IDF forces operating in the area,” added the statement, though it didn’t name Hamas or explicitly blame the Gaza-ruling terrorist organization for the gunfire.
Meanwhile, security officials were reportedly reveling in the information that was being extracted by interrogators who were questioning Hamas internal security chief Muein al-Arabid, who was captured by Shin Bet special forces on Tuesday morning. Security officials described him as an “intelligence gold mine,” Channel 12 reported.
According to the report, al-Arabid was cooperating with interrogators and providing valuable information on the terror group’s weapons, personnel and infrastructure in Gaza.
His arrest has reportedly sent shockwaves through Hamas, security officials said in the report, prompting the group to heighten its defensive readiness amid fears of further Israeli operations.
“Hamas commanders feel they are being hunted. They do not know whether the next strike will come from the air or through a ground operation,” security officials said.
The latest Israeli strikes on Gaza come as the international community attempts to implement a US-backed plan for ending the Gaza conflict. The plan calls for Hamas to disarm in exchange for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, but progress has remained stalled, and the terror group is unlikely to disarm before the Knesset vote later in October.
The Times of Israel Community.