International Desk: The Israeli Air Force on Sunday said that the country’s forces eliminated another senior Hamas commander, Billal al-Qedra, who allegedly led the murderous attacks on the Nirim Kibbutz area near the Israeli border.
“Following ISA intelligence, IAF fighter jets operated in the Gaza Strip and killed Billal Al Kedra last night, the Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis, who’s responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror operatives were also killed,” announced the Air Force on social media platform X.
The Air Force also said that at least 100 military targets in Gaza’s Zaytun, Khan Yunis and west Jabaliya areas were struck by aerial attacks, which impacted the capabilities of Hamas by targeting their operation command centres, military compounds and anti-tank missile poys among others.
Billal al-Qedra is the third Hamas commander to be eliminated by Israeli forces in the last 48 hours. Earlier, the Israeli military killed senior Hamas leaders Ali Qadhi and Murad Abu Murad, both playing a crucial role in the group’s devastating attack on Israel last week.
Qadhi was eliminated in a drone strike as part of joint intelligence efforts by the Shin Bet security agency and the Military Intelligence Directorate on Saturday. “Based on precise IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF aircraft killed Ali Qadi, a company commander of the Hamas “Nukhba” commando force, who led the terror attack in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip last weekend,” it said on X.
The Air Force said that Qadhi was arrested by Israel in 2005 for the kidnapping and murder of Israelis and was released to the Gaza Strip as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange initiative.
Prior to that, the Israeli Air Force announced that they had eliminated Murad Abu Murad, the head of Hamas’ aerial wing, in overnight strikes on the Gaza Strip. “Last night, IAF fighter jets conducted wide-scale strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. These included dozens of Hamas terror targets as well as “Nukhba” terrorist operatives that were in a staging ground in the Gaza Strip,” it tweeted.
According to the Air Force, Abu Murad was “largely responsible” for the brutal and unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants that has killed hundreds of people. It claimed that Abu Murad had directed the militants to launch last week’s attack.