The IDF killed a Hamas squad commander who was involved in holding multiple hostages during their captivity in Gaza, including former hostages Noa Argamani, Emily Hand and Ohad Ben Ami, the military and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said in a joint statement on Friday.
Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, a squad commander in Hamas's military wing, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat area on Thursday. The IDF said Abu Taqiya had been involved in holding numerous hostages at the beginning of the war, naming 12 individuals who were subsequently released or whose bodies were returned to Israel.
Another Hamas terrorist, Ibrahim Gihad Muhammad Abu Oshaiba, a platoon commander in the group's military wing, was also killed in the strike, according to the military.
The IDF said the two terrorists had advanced attacks against Israeli troops and civilians throughout the war, particularly in recent weeks, and worked to restore Hamas's military capabilities in what it described as systematic violations of the ceasefire.
The military said the strike was carried out to remove the threat they posed, and emphasized that measures were taken to reduce harm to civilians before the strike.
IDF strikes Hamas weapons storage facilities in Gaza
In a separate joint announcement, the IDF and Shin Bet said they had dismantled two weapons storage facilities used by Hamas's military wing in strikes carried out Thursday night in the Al-Bureij area and Gaza City.
The facilities contained dozens of weapons and other military equipment, including RPG launchers, explosive devices, rockets, Kalashnikov rifles, grenades and ammunition magazines, according to the military.
The IDF said advance warnings had been issued to civilians ahead of the strikes and that precision munitions and aerial surveillance had been used to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.
Four Hamas terrorists killed in strikes in southern Gaza
The military and Shin Bet also announced that four Hamas terrorists had been killed in two separate strikes in the southern Gaza Strip earlier this week.
In a strike in the Khan Yunis area on Wednesday, the IDF killed Muhammad Alian Biyuk, whom it identified as a Nukhba operative in Hamas's military wing.
In a separate strike in the Rafah area on the same day, the military killed three additional Hamas terrorists: commander Al-Hamam Jaber Al-Sayed Abu Labda, Mahmoud Abu Naama and Muhammad Hamad Shreiki Sultan.
The IDF said the terrorists had advanced attacks against Israeli forces and civilians and had worked to restore Hamas's capabilities, in violation of the ceasefire. It said measures had been taken to reduce the risk to civilians during the strikes, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
The military added that IDF troops under Southern Command remained deployed in Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and would continue operating to remove immediate threats.