TEL AVIV, December 6. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have announced the killing of three senior field commanders of the radical Hamas movement, who were involved in the attack on Israeli settlements on October 7, 2023.
"In the course of joint operations by the IDF and Shabak [the Israel Security Agency], several high-ranking terrorists from Hamas’ Shati Battalion were eliminated," the statement said.
According to the army press office, Majdi Aqilan, the deputy commander of the Shati Battalion, who "played a key role in the Kibbutz Nahal Oz massacre and led attacks against IDF forces in northern and central Gaza," Mamdouh Mehna, a senior tunnel specialist in Hamas's Gaza City Brigade, who "led Hamas’ tunneling operations," as well as Ahmed Suwaidan, a company commander in the Shati Battalion, who "was involved in kidnapping Israeli civilians on October 7," were killed.
The IDF noted that "senior leaders of the Shati Battalion and the Gaza Brigade of the Hamas movement were involved in terrorist acts against IDF forces and citizens of the State of Israel." "The IDF and Shabak will continue to target anyone who participated in terrorism" against Israeli civilians, the press service said.
Tensions escalated in the Middle East after the infiltration of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the taking of hundreds of hostages. In response, Israel initiated a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to dismantle Hamas' military and political structures and free the hostages.
In late November last year, a humanitarian truce was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which lasted for a week. During that time, according to Israel, more than 100 hostages were released. On December 1 of the same year, the ceasefire was violated. The fighting resumed and is still ongoing. According to Israel’s latest data, radicals are still holding hostage 100 people in Gaza.