IDF says senior Hamas intel operative who helped plan Oct. 7 killed in Gaza strike
Iyad Shambari served as operations chief in terror group’s intelligence division; separately, 9-year-old killed in strike targeting man who ‘posed immediate threat’ to troops
A senior Hamas intelligence operative who helped plan the terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel was killed in a Tuesday airstrike, the IDF and Shin Bet announced Wednesday in a joint statement.
The Tuesday strike killed Iyad Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Shambari, who served as chief of operations in Hamas’s intelligence division, according to the military and Shin Bet.
Shambari was a “central figure involved in gathering intelligence on IDF troops” for attacks, and he “posed an immediate threat to IDF troops operating in the area,” the statement said.
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said four people were killed and six injured when two projectiles hit the car in Gaza City’s western Al-Rimal neighborhood.
A Gaza security source identified one of the victims as Shambari’s son Salah, whose age was unclear.
Also on Tuesday, medics said 9-year-old Adel Al‑Najjar was killed in an IDF strike east of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
חיל-האוויר, כוחות צה״ל בפיקוד הדרום ושב״כ תקפו אתמול בצפון רצועת עזה וחיסלו את המחבל איאד אחמד עבד אלרחמן שמבארי, ראש מחלקת המבצעים במטה המודיעין הצבאי של ארגון הטרור חמאס.
שמבארי שימש בשנים האחרונות כראש מחלקת המבצעים במודיעין הצבאי של ארגון הטרור חמאס, ובמסגרת תפקידו היה… pic.twitter.com/otZ9kgvXjQ
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) April 29, 2026
In response to a query from The Times of Israel, the IDF said that the child had been killed in a strike targeting another individual who posed an “immediate threat” to troops.
The military said that “IDF forces operating in the southern Gaza Strip identified a suspect in the area of the Yellow Line who approached the troops.”
“Immediately following the identification, the Israeli Air Force struck the suspect in order to remove the threat,” it continued, adding that steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
“Following an initial inquiry, during the strike, an uninvolved person entered the building and was apparently hit as a result of the strike. The incident is under review,” it said.
Relatives said the boy had been collecting cardboard to use as fuel.
“We don’t have gas. We collect cardboard [so we can] bake; they want to eat, they want to drink,” said one of his relatives, Sabreen Al-Najjar.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said that over 72,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, sparked by the terror group’s bloody invasion and massacre in southern Israel, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted to Gaza.
The toll does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, and includes at least 800 people that the ministry says have been killed since a ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 2025.
The Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating two to three civilians killed for every slain terror operative.
The IDF says it has killed over 23,000 combatants in Gaza and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and says 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 477. Five IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire.
The Times of Israel Community.