IDF says it killed five Hamas terrorists who led Mefalsim area massacres on Oct. 7
Overnight strike in Beit Lahiya targets site where several Hamas operatives were gathered; security forces say PIJ commander killed in separate strike in central Gaza
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Five Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught were killed in a recent airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Friday, noting that two were commanders who led the massacre and kidnapping of civilians from the Mefalsim area during the brutal attack.
The military said the strike overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in Beit Lahiya targeted a site where several Hamas operatives were gathered, including members of the terror group’s elite Nukhba Force who were involved in the massacre.
The two senior terrorists killed in the strike were named as Jihad Mahmoud Yahya Kahlout, a Nukhba Force company commander, and Muhammad Riad Ali Oukal, a Hamas company commander.
The IDF said that as well as leading the October 7 attack, the two had also been leading figures in fighting Israeli troops in northern Gaza amid the ongoing operation there.
The other terrorists killed in the strike were named as Anas Jalal Muhammad Abu Shakian, a Hamas commander who also participated in the attack on the Mefalsim area on October 7; Nur al-Din Muhammad Yahya Abu Jadian, a Nukhba member; and Sihab Hassan Ali Matar Adaim, a Hamas operative.
The area near the southern kibbutz was one of dozens of communities that Hamas terrorists targeted when they burst into Israel from across the Gaza border on October 7, 2023 killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Also Friday, the IDF and Shin Bet security agency announced that Khaled Abu Deqa, who commanded the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket unit, was killed in a Wednesday strike in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza.
The IDF said Abu Deqa, who was operating from within the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in Deir al-Balah, was responsible for rocket fire on Israel amid the October 7 onslaught and during the war. He was also involved in numerous other attacks on Israel and IDF troops, the military added.
To mitigate civilian harm in the strike, the IDF said it used precision munition and aerial surveillance.
In a separate airstrike, in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, the IDF targeted a group of Hamas operatives trying to plant explosive devices, amid an ongoing military operation there.
The IDF released footage of the strike, adding that over 300 booby-trapped buildings had been discovered and neutralized by combat engineers during the operation in Jabalia.
The IDF releases footage showing a group of Hamas operatives being targeted in an airstrike while trying to plant explosive devices in northern Gaza's Jabalia, amid an ongoing military operation there.
According to the IDF, more than 300 booby-trapped buildings have been… pic.twitter.com/XUz5g4acco
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 22, 2024
Earlier this week, the military said that troops had killed over 1,300 terror operatives during the ongoing operation to stop Hamas from regrouping in the Jabalia area, which is being carried out by the 162nd Division.
More than 1,000 members of Hamas and other terror groups have also been detained, according to the military’s latest estimates released Tuesday, which added that some 100-200 operatives remain in the area.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, thousands of people have been killed in the operation, though these figures cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 380. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and a Defense Ministry civilian contractor.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
