In a tweet on Sunday, the Israeli Air Force announced the killing of a senior Hamas commander, Billal al-Qedra, who led multiple deadly attacks during Israeli airstrikes.
According to the IDF, Billal al-Qedra was the commander of the so-called Nukhba unit’s southern Khan Younis battalion and had orchestrated murderous attacks on southern Israeli communities, particularly Nirim and Nir Oz.
The IDF attributed the successful operation to intelligence efforts by the Shin Bet security agency and Military Intelligence Directorate. Several other Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were also reported killed in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
The IDF’s statement reads: “The IAF also struck over one hundred military targets located in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya. These strikes impacted the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, by targeting its operational command centers, military compounds, dozens of launchers, anti-tank-missile launch posts, and observation posts. Furthermore, operational command centers belonging to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization were struck.”
The ongoing conflict has led to growing tensions in the region, with Israeli forces positioned along Gaza’s border, preparing for what they have described as a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. This comes after a week of relentless airstrikes that have devastated entire neighborhoods but failed to suppress the rocket attacks launched by militants into Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry has reported a significant number of casualties, with 2,329 Palestinians killed in the ongoing fighting, making it the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the majority of them civilians, due to Hamas’s October 7 assault. This marks the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria.
The conflict shows no signs of abating, and efforts to reach a ceasefire or resolution continue to be elusive, with significant humanitarian and geopolitical implications.
