From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 4, 2026
IDF says Hamas terrorist who also led Turkish humanitarian group killed in strike
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught and also served as the director of a Turkish humanitarian aid group was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip today, the military announces.
The strike in Khan Younis killed Saqr Nabil Musa Qaisi, identified by the IDF as a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force who invaded Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
Alongside his role in Hamas, the military says Qaisi also “served as the director of the Turkish organization Deniz Feneri, which presents itself as a humanitarian aid organization, but in practice maintains ties with senior figures in the Hamas terror organization’s leadership and with elements within the Turkish leadership.”
????TERRORIST POSING AS HUMANITARIAN AID WORKER ELIMINATED: Saqr Nabil Musa Qaisi, a Nukhba terrorist in Hamas.
The terrorist infiltrated Israel during the October 7 Massacre. He also served as the director of the Turkish organization Deniz Feneri, which presents itself as a… pic.twitter.com/PSzMVInXcd
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 4, 2026
As part of his role in the supposed aid group, Qaisi “worked to regularly employ numerous terrorists and provide financial support to Hamas terrorists,” the military says.
The IDF says that Deniz Feneri and its senior figures “present their activities as humanitarian efforts, but in practice promote fundraising to support the Hamas terror organization.
“This constitutes the cynical exploitation of the humanitarian sphere to support terror activity, while advancing the activities of the Hamas terror organization under a humanitarian guise,” the military charges.
The IDF says Qaisi was targeted today because he had recently been involved in advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, as well as attempting to restore Hamas capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.”
He was “eliminated to remove the threat he posed,” the IDF says, while adding that it took steps to minimize harm to civilians in the strike.
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