IDF strikes Gaza as Hamas official captured in reported raid by Israel-backed militia
Military carries out heavy wave of strikes, says it struck targets to ‘remove threats to security forces’ amid apparent operation by anti-Hamas armed group; 3 said killed
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The Israeli military carried out heavy strikes in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, reportedly in support of a Palestinian militia attempting to abduct an official in the Hamas terror group.
Defense Minister Israel Katz later announced that a senior Hamas member had been captured, without elaborating on who carried out the raid or providing further details on the target. The whereabouts of the official were unclear.
Palestinian media claimed that a “special Israeli unit” infiltrated the western part of Gaza City. In an attempt to secure the unit after it was discovered by Hamas operatives, the Israel Defense Forces carried out shelling and airstrikes in the area, the reports claimed, killing at least three and wounding eight.
At times, Palestinian media has referred to Israeli-backed anti-Hamas militias operating in the Strip as “Israeli forces.” In the past, Israel has provided anti-Hamas militias with air support.
The IDF confirmed carrying out strikes against “a number of targets” in the Gaza Strip, saying it was to “remove threats to security forces” — without specifying whether they were Israeli forces.
No Israeli troops were injured in the incident, the military added.
Speaking from the Gaza-border community of Netiv Ha’asara, Katz said in a video statement that “even as we stand here, the activity of our forces in Gaza City continues at all times,” referring to the Israeli strikes.
“A short while ago, a senior Hamas terrorist was arrested. This is our policy: We do not wait for threats, we pursue Hamas terrorists, thwart them, and destroy their terror infrastructure,” Katz said.
Katz did not provide any further details.
An Israeli security source claimed the captured Hamas commander, Muein al-Arabid, was the chief of the terror group’s internal security apparatus. Other security sources said al-Arabid was a senior official in the apparatus.
Heavy clashes are ongoing in western Gaza City following the infiltration of an armed group into a Hamas position.
It is unknown if this is an Israeli special forces group or an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia. Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling, and drone strikes are… pic.twitter.com/s22yPhWb2e
— AMK Mapping ???????? (@AMK_Mapping_) September 1, 2026
Saudi outlet Al-Hadath reported that Israeli-backed Palestinian militias attempted to abduct an unidentified individual in Gaza City, and Qatar’s Al-Araby TV reported that an armed militia tried to target a senior official in Hamas’s internal security apparatus.
Al-Majd al-Amni, a website affiliated with Hamas, reported that “an Israeli special force attempted to carry out a security operation aimed at targeting a figure from the ‘resistance’ [a term used for terror groups in Gaza], but [Hamas’s] security forces thwarted the mission.”
“The failure is an embarrassment for the occupation army,” the report claimed.
Al-Quds al-Ikhbariya, another Hamas-affiliated outlet, claimed that during the operation, Hamas operatives attempted to capture members of the “Israeli special force,” but Israeli air intervention prevented them from doing so.
There was no immediate official comment from Hamas on the raid and the claimed arrest of a senior member of the terror group.
For over a year, Israel has provided several anti-Hamas armed groups with weapons, air support, intelligence, food, and cigarettes, and has airlifted wounded militia members into Israel for medical care. It has also provided them with light weapons, largely rifles.
Footage and statements released by the groups point to forces numbering at most a few hundred armed men. Their operations appear sporadic but ongoing, involving clashes with Hamas alongside efforts aimed at boosting their popularity among Gaza residents. One group based in IDF-controlled areas of the southern Gaza Strip said earlier this year that it was working on demolishing the terror group’s tunnels on behalf of Israel.
IDF says Hamas commander targeted in separate strike; weapons supply commander killed on Monday
In a separate incident later Tuesday, the IDF said it struck a Hamas commander in northern Gaza’s Jabalia.
Palestinian media reported several injuries in a strike in the Strip’s north.
The military justified the strike amid the ceasefire by saying that the unnamed commander had been advancing attacks on troops and civilians, as well as trying to restore Hamas capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.”
The strike was carried out to “remove the threat,” the military added.
On Monday, the military said that a Hamas commander in charge of supplying weapons to the terror group was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City.
The strike in the city’s Sabra neighborhood killed Omar Mohammed Roshdy Saraj, who the IDF said was a commander in Hamas’s “supply and maintenance company” in Gaza City.
“As part of his role, the terrorist managed the supply of weapons to Hamas terrorists in Gaza City,” the military said.
Another Hamas operative was targeted in the same strike, according to the IDF.
The IDF said both terror operatives had been advancing attacks on troops and civilians, as well as trying to restore Hamas capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.”
Palestinian media reported that Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Monday killed five people.
היווה איום מיידי: צה"ל חיסל מפקד אספקה ותחזוקה בארגון הטרור חמאס
צה"ל תקף במרחב צברה שבעיר עזה מוקדם יותר היום וחיסל את המחבל עמר מוחמד רושדי סראג, מפקד בפלוגת האספקה והתחזוקה של העיר עזה בארגון הטרור חמאס >> pic.twitter.com/mxdzgtcEbt
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 31, 2026
An October 2025 US-backed ceasefire halted major fighting in the shattered territory, but it failed to end strikes by the Israeli military, which it said aimed to thwart attacks by Hamas and other Gaza terrorists. Gaza remains bisected into Israeli- and Hamas-controlled areas.
Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement a broader plan by US President Donald Trump to end the Gaza conflict, which also includes Israeli withdrawals and Hamas disarmament. However, the terror group has refused to completely give up its weapons or disarm at all until Israel withdraws.
More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gazan health officials, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
The Times of Israel Community.