IDF Kills Walid Haniyeh, Deputy Commander In Hamas Nukhba Force, In Gaza Strike

The Israeli military said it killed Walid Haniyeh, described as the deputy commander of an elite Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s military wing, in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with the IDF announcing the death on Saturday.

“One day after thousands of pagers owned by Hezbollah across Lebanon exploded, the handheld radios used by the group’s paramilitary wing also exploded late on Wednesday across southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut”

Euronews

The IDF said Haniyeh commanded terrorist infiltrators on October 7, and that he “was involved in directing and providing operational instructions to a terrorist cell as they took Israeli civilians hostage into the Gaza Strip.”

Euronews

The Times of Israel reported that the IDF has for more than two and a half years sought out and targeted terrorists involved in the October 7 attack, which it said killed 1,200 people, saw 251 people taken hostage, and launched the Gaza war.

In parallel, the Times of Israel said Gaza’s Nasser Hospital reported an Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinian siblings in southern Gaza, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded at least seven others, with the strike targeting tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the camp of Muwasi.

The IDF acknowledged it struck the area of Muwasi, saying it had targeted a Hamas operative, while the hospital’s courtyard scene was described as relatives weeping over bodies covered in white burial shrouds.

Ynetnews said the IDF released footage of the strike and stated it was carried out jointly by the IDF and Shin Bet, while quoting the military that “He was also involved in directing and relaying instructions to a terrorist cell as it abducted Israeli civilians into the Gaza Strip.”

Ynetnews also tied the announcement to Gaza’s “Day of Rage” against Hamas rule, saying organizers described it as the largest attempt so far to stage significant protests against the terror group.

Gooya News

According to ynetnews sources in the Gaza Strip, Hamas security forces operated on the ground to prevent demonstrations from spreading in several locations, including by restricting civilian movement around displaced persons camps and confiscating phones from participants.

The Times of Israel reported that since the ceasefire went into effect, Israel has killed more than 1,030 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, whose figures it said are unverified and which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The Times of Israel added that the enclave is split between Israeli and Hamas control, and that on Friday hundreds gathered to protest Hamas despite threats from the terror group.

Beyond the specific strike, Euronews described a wider campaign of targeted assassinations of senior leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah during the Gaza war, following the October 7, 2023 start of the conflict.

“A Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, the nephew of former Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the military announced Saturday”

The Times of Israel

Euronews said the Israeli army claimed responsibility for the killing of Mohammed Deif after an intelligence assessment on July 13 and airstrikes on Khan Younis, adding that “at least 71 Palestinians were killed” in the airstrike on an area between al-Mawasi and Khan Younis.

Euronews also said Israel claimed that besides Deif, Rafah Salama, commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, was targeted in the same strike, and that Israel released a photo from the site saying “the terrorists were hiding among civilians.”

In a separate account, Radio Farda described how Israel’s retaliatory operation in Gaza began after Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israel, and it said the security cabinet set two main goals: freeing Israeli hostages and dealing a crushing, devastating blow to Hamas.

Radio Farda further framed the leadership losses by noting that it said Yahya Sinwar, described as the 62-year-old leader of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, was killed on October 17, 2024, in Rafah, and that it said Hassan Nasrallah, described as Hezbollah’s secretary-general, was killed on September 27, 2024, during the bombardment of Dahieh.