70 terror operatives killed in Gaza last month, including 17 who participated in Oct. 7 — IDF

The Israel Defense Forces says it killed 70 terror operatives in the Gaza Strip in September, including three Hamas brigade commanders, two battalion commanders, and nine company commanders.

The IDF says that 17 of those killed had participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught, kidnapped hostages, or held hostages in captivity.

Those 17 terrorists were killed due to the efforts of a unit in the Shin Bet security agency known as Nili, which aims to track down and eliminate all of those who took part in the Hamas-led attack that sparked the Gaza war.

While an October 2025 US-backed ceasefire halted major fighting in the shattered territory, it hasn’t ended strikes by the IDF, which the military says are meant to thwart attacks by terrorists.

The IDF in recent months has ramped up strikes on terror operatives in the enclave, including numerous October 7 terrorists, saying they posed a threat to Israeli forces.

The military says the targeted killings come following “prolonged intelligence and operational work that matured into several opportunities over a short period of time.”

Some of the operatives and commanders have been hiding in tunnels or densely populated areas, requiring the IDF to employ “prolonged surveillance… to achieve a high degree of certainty regarding their identities and locations and to create conditions that enable a precise strike while minimizing harm to uninvolved individuals,” according to the military.

According to the military, many of the strikes in the past month focused on Hamas operatives involved in building up the terror group’s force, as well as secret headquarters and Hamas’s civil control mechanisms in the Strip.

The IDF assesses that Hamas is no longer the military and governing organization it was before October 7, but the terror group “continues attempts to rebuild and rearm.”