10 Hamas terrorists exiled to Gaza in 2011 Shalit deal killed in airstrike last week, say security services

Ten Hamas terrorists who were exiled to Gaza in the 2011 Shalit deal, including some behind the killing of Israelis, were killed in an airstrike last week in the Strip, the Shin Bet security agency and IDF announce.

Most of those killed were members of Hamas’s so-called West Bank headquarters, a unit involved in recruiting terrorists and advancing attacks against Israel from or within the West Bank, the Shin Bet says.

Among those killed were Riyad Assila and Bassem Abu Sanina, who were accused of murdering Israeli civilian Haim Karman in a 1998 stabbing attack in Jerusalem.

Both had been exiled to Gaza in a 2011 deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 terror convicts for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Assila served as a member of Hamas’s West Bank headquarters, specifically involved in recruiting terrorists from East Jerusalem, the Shin Bet says.

Also killed in the strike was Mohammed Saria, who the Shin Bet says was charged with killing IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Ehud (Udi) Tal in a stabbing attack at the Dotan Civil Administration facility in the West Bank in 1996.

Seven more members of Hamas’s West Bank headquarters were killed in the strike. The Shin Bet says the seven were all convicted during the Second Intifada of involvement in deadly terror attacks and were given life sentences, before being exiled to Gaza in the Shalit deal.

After their exile, the Shin Bet says the operatives held roles in the West Bank Headquarters, “within which they operated in regional committees responsible for advancing attacks in the Judea and Samaria areas, including by transferring weapons and funds to terrorists.”