IDF says it killed Hamas terrorist behind 2004 bus bombings that killed 16 civilians

A Hamas terrorist behind a deadly 2004 double suicide bombing and a sniper commander in the terror group who committed several fatal attacks on IDF troops in the Gaza Strip during the war were killed in recent airstrikes, the military announced on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency said that Basel Himouni, a prominent Hamas member from the West Bank city of Hebron, was targeted on February 4 as part of a series of Israeli airstrikes against terror operatives in response to an attack by gunmen on troops in the Strip’s north. One reservist officer was seriously wounded in the attack in northern Gaza.

In August 2004, Himouni dispatched two suicide bombers to carry out simultaneous attacks on two buses in Beersheba.

The attacks killed 16 Israeli civilians and wounded over 100.

Himouni was captured in October 2004 and sentenced to prison, but was released and exiled to Gaza in a 2011 deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 terror convicts for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

The military and Shin Bet said that after his release from Israeli custody, Himouni “returned to recruiting attackers and directing terrorist activity.”

Palestinian media reports: Hamas terrorist Basel Al-Himouni was eliminated in an IAF strike in Gaza on Wednesday.

Himouni was released from Israeli prison in the 2011 Shalit deal and exiled to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/aMoPl9tC6f

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“As part of his role in Hamas, during the war, he was involved in manufacturing and planting explosive devices to harm our forces,” the joint statement added.

Hamas terrorist Basel Himouni is targeted in an Israeli airstrike on February 4, 2026, in footage published by the IDF. (Israel Defense Forces)

Separately on Wednesday, the IDF said that a drone strike targeting a residential apartment in Gaza City’s al-Nasr neighborhood earlier in the week killed Ahmad Hassan, the commander of the sniper unit in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion.

Monday’s strike, which Palestinian media reported had killed two men — both members of Hamas’s military wing — came in response to an attack by gunmen on troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah a day prior.

Hassan was behind numerous attacks on troops in northern Gaza, and had been recently identified as working to advance new attacks, the military said.

The IDF said that Hassan was involved in a roadside bomb attack in Beit Hanoun on July 7, 2025, in which five troops were killed — Sgt. First Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin, Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, and Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll — and 14 were wounded.

Hassan was also involved in an ambush on April 19, 2025, in which Warrant Officer G’haleb Sliman Alnasasra was killed, and five troops were wounded, as well as a sniper attack on April 24, 2025, in which Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri was killed and two troops were wounded, according to the IDF.

The Gaza City strike was one of two airstrikes that took place in response to the incident in Rafah. The second reportedly killed a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Strip’s center. The IDF did not immediately provide further details on the second strike.

The IDF said the Rafah attack, during which four gunmen emerged from a tunnel and opened fire on troops before being killed, was a “blatant violation of the ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, and it viewed the incident “gravely.”

The US-brokered ceasefire plan reached in October foresees the demilitarization of Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave. The terror group, however, has not agreed to give up its weapons.

Even with fighting officially halted, near-daily incidents have occurred along the ceasefire line, with Israel accusing Hamas of violating its terms and the terror group making counterclaims.