A Palestinian Hamas commander responsible for an attack on an Israeli kibbutz next to the Gaza Strip last week was killed in an attack, the Israeli military reported Sunday.
Billal al Kedra, commander of Hamas forces in the Khan Younes sector (south of the Gaza Strip) and responsible for the attack on Kibbutz Nirim, was killed by Israeli aircraft “last night (Saturday),” a military press release said.
Israeli media said at least five people were killed in Nirim, where residents endured a nine-hour siege before Israeli forces intervened to confront Islamist Hamas militants.
According to Israeli officials, the Hamas commando attack on October 7 killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians including children, and took at least 120 people hostage. Hundreds of people are still missing and their bodies are still being identified.
The Israeli response killed more than 2,300 people, including more than 700 children, in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory under Israeli blockade and controlled by Hamas.
The Israeli army also said on Sunday that it had attacked other members of the Palestinian Islamist movement, command centers, military and missile launch sites and observation posts, believing this had “impaired the terrorist organization’s capabilities.”
The attacks also targeted members and the headquarters of Islamic Jihad, another Islamist organization with a presence in Gaza, which was destroyed, an Israeli army spokesman said in a statement.