Reservist seriously wounded in north Gaza ambush; 21 said killed as IDF strikes back

An Israel Defense Forces reservist officer was seriously wounded by gunfire from Palestinian operatives in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, the military said Wednesday.

Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire, and the IDF responded with a series of strikes on Gaza, including targeting a commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force who the IDF said was involved in leading the October 7, 2023, onslaught, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander, and a Hamas terrorist who murdered a hostage soldier in captivity at the start of the war.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the strikes killed at least 21 people.

Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and the Hamas terror group each accusing the other of breaching the agreement that came into effect on October 10, 2025.

The latest bloodshed came days after Israel reopened the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt — the only exit for Gazans that does not pass through Israel.

According to the IDF, troops of the Alexandroni Brigade came under fire from multiple gunmen during operations on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, which splits the Strip between areas controlled by Israel and Hamas.

In response, the military said, tanks opened fire on the gunmen, and airstrikes were carried out in the area, in eastern Gaza City.

The seriously wounded officer was taken to a hospital, and his family was notified.

The IDF said the incident was a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire, though Hamas later rejected accusations that it was behind the overnight attack, and in turn accused Israel of breaking the truce.

In a statement, Hamas said Israel’s “claims of a shooting targeting one of its soldiers are nothing more than a pretext to continue the killing of our people,” and adds that the IDF strikes “represent deliberate sabotage of efforts to establish a ceasefire.”

In response to the incident, the IDF carried out several airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning, including one that killed Bilal Abu Assi, whom the military identified as a platoon commander in the Nukhba Force, Hamas’s elite unit that spearheaded the October 7 invasion.

According to the military, Abu Assi led the invasion of Kibbutz Nir Oz during the onslaught, during which dozens of civilians were murdered and abducted.

Abu Assi was also likely involved in holding the bodies of hostages in Gaza during the war, as well as advancing attacks on troops, the IDF said, adding that it was aware of reports that the strike also caused civilian casualties, including a Red Crescent medic who was killed.

“Prior to and during the strike, steps were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible, including the use of surveillance and precise munitions. The IDF regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians,” the army said.

Four martyrs, including a child, were killed as a result of Israeli occupation artillery shelling on the Zeitoun and Al-Tuffah neighborhoods, east of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/50QpYCFam3

— Md.Sakib Ali (@iamsakibali1) February 4, 2026

The IDF also confirmed it killed the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Northern Gaza Brigade, Ali al-Razayneh, in an airstrike in the Strip’s center.

The army said al-Razayneh was responsible for Islamic Jihad’s operatives and defenses in the Strip’s north, was a member of the terror group’s top military council, and was also “in charge of coordination with the Hamas terror organization to advance and carry out terror attacks against IDF troops.”

عاجل | استشهاد علي الرزاينة قائد لواء شمال #غزة في سرايا القدس جراء عملية اغتيال نفذتها طائرة مُسيّرة إسرائيلية وسط القطاع. pic.twitter.com/iC1ZQt5UdB

— غزة 24 | التغطية مستمرة (@Gaza24Live) February 4, 2026

Additionally, the IDF said that al-Razayneh oversaw the holding of hostages by Islamic Jihad in northern Gaza, “and since the ceasefire agreement came into effect, the terrorist worked to rehabilitate the Northern Gaza Brigade.”

The commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Northern Gaza Brigade, Ali al-Razayneh, is targeted in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip on February 4, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Additionally, a Hamas terrorist who murdered IDF surveillance soldier Cpl. Noa Marciano in captivity at the start of the war, was killed in an airstrike, the military said.

The IDF said Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, a Hamas cell commander, was targeted in Gaza City’s Shati Camp.

According to the Shin Bet security agency, during interrogations of captured suspects, it emerged that al-Habil “brutally murdered” Marciano in captivity.

The IDF also added that the strike today was enabled by intelligence collected by the Gaza Division, where Marciano had served as a surveillance soldier as part of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit.

Hamas terrorist Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, whom the military says murdered hostage soldier Cpl. Noa Marciano in captivity, is targeted in an airstrike in Gaza City on February 4, 2026,. (Israel Defense Forces)

Marciano, who was abducted on October 7, 2023, from the Nahal Oz base, was later killed at Shifa Hospital, according to the military. Her body was recovered by the IDF in November 2023.

Several Hamas terrorists involved in guarding Marciano were also killed in strikes during the war.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, 21 people were killed in the Israeli strikes in the Strip overnight and on Wednesday, and 38 others were wounded.

At least 11 people were killed in Gaza City, according to Palestinian media.

The reports said three people were killed, two of them children aged 16 and 12, in overnight Israeli artillery shelling in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood. Another three people, including a 5-month-old, were killed by Israeli shelling in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, according to the reports.

The strike targeting the Hamas commander Abu Assi hit a tent housing displaced Gazans, killing two, Palestinian media reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society identified one of the dead as an on-duty Red Crescent medic, Hussein al-Samiri. The Red Crescent also said its field hospital in Mawasi has received at least a dozen people wounded in the strike.

Rafah crossing stays open despite renewed violence

Despite the violence, the Rafah Border Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt opened in the morning as usual, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said, countering claims in some Palestinian media outlets.

The crossing opened on Monday for the first time in a year for Gazan Palestinians to enter and leave the Strip, in accordance with the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, though the number of people crossing has been limited.

COGAT said that the World Health Organization, “which is responsible for coordinating the arrival of residents from the Gaza Strip to the Rafah Crossing, has not submitted the required coordination details at this stage for procedural reasons.”

“Once the coordination details are submitted as agreed upon, the transfer of patients and their companions into Egypt via the Rafah Crossing will be facilitated,” COGAT said, in reference to Palestinians seeking medical care.

More than 530 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry. The Gazan figures cannot be confirmed.

Palestinian terror operatives have killed four Israeli soldiers since the truce, according to Israeli authorities.

The attacks and the escalating death toll have rocked the US-backed truce and caused Palestinians in the Strip to say it does not feel like the war has ended.

Saturday was among the deadliest days, with the civil defense agency reporting at least 32 people killed in Israeli attacks, which the military said were in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation.

The IDF said its strikes targeted four commanders in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups, as well as a weapons depot, an arms manufacturing site, and two rocket launching positions.

The war started with the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. The body of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, was returned last week, ending the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan.

The second phase of Trump’s plan includes complex issues such as Hamas disarmament, which the group has long rejected, further Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force.

US envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday, during which Netanyahu insisted that Hamas must be disarmed and the entire Gaza Strip demilitarized before any reconstruction can begin.