Israeli forces said they killed a Hamas Nukhba cell commander, Mohammed Emad Alrahman Abu Taima, in a targeted airstrike in southern Gaza on Tuesday, describing him as one of the militants involved in the October 7, 2023, attack who infiltrated Kibbutz Nirim.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Abu Taima headed a Nukhba unit that carried out ambushes against Israeli troops during the conflict and had recently been involved in maintaining operational readiness and recruiting Hamas operatives.
The military said he was eliminated in a “precise airstrike” after being identified as posing an immediate threat to Israeli forces operating in the area.
The IDF also announced that Ahmad Yahya Ibrahim Batsh, another Nukhba Force cell commander who allegedly participated in Hamas’s October 7 attack, was killed in a strike in northern Gaza on Sunday.
The military said Batsh had continued to coordinate attacks against Israeli troops throughout the conflict, including in recent days.
In a separate operation on Monday in southern Gaza, Israeli forces said they killed Hamouda Abu Daqa, identified as a commander in Hamas’s intelligence unit.
According to the IDF, Abu Daqa gathered intelligence on Israeli troop movements to facilitate attacks against soldiers and “posed an immediate threat to the troops operating in the area.”
The military added that all of the strikes were conducted after taking measures to minimize civilian casualties, including the use of precision-guided weapons and aerial surveillance.
On Monday, the IDF also reported killing Fadi Falah Ashour Daghmash, described as a commander in Hamas’s military wing responsible for overseeing training programmes, including those for the Nukhba Force before the October 7 attack.
The military said Daghmash also directed attacks against Israeli ground forces and that “In recent months, Daghmash advanced additional attacks and sought to restore the operational capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
The same day, the IDF said it targeted five militants in northern Gaza who were allegedly attempting to restore underground terrorist infrastructure west of the ceasefire line. It identified one of those killed as Hudhayfah Hussein Abdullah al-Hawajri, a Nukhba operative in Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion.
Earlier, on Sunday, the military announced that Muhammad Najib Ashour, a Nukhba Force platoon commander, and Tamer Saeed Abu Nakhal, a Hamas military wing cell commander, had been killed in separate strikes the previous week over their alleged involvement in planning attacks on Israeli soldiers.
The IDF said its troops remain deployed in Gaza under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement and “will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”
According to the military, the current ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, bringing an end to the two-year conflict that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
