The IDF struck a terrorist in Hamas’s military wing in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza on Saturday, after he recently advanced terror plots against IDF forces and Israeli civilians. The military said the strike was carried out to remove an immediate threat.
According to an IDF statement, the operative had also been working to rebuild the terror organization’s capabilities, systematically violating the ceasefire. He was hiding adjacent to the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital compound in Deir al-Balah. The IDF noted this was another example of Hamas using humanitarian infrastructure and medical facilities for terrorist activity.
Before the strike, the IDF took a series of steps designed to minimize as much as possible the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance. Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement, and the IDF said it will continue to act to remove immediate threats to forces and Israeli civilians.
The Jenin Airstrike
The Gaza strike comes less than a day after another unusual operation against Hamas infrastructure—this time in Jenin. On Friday, the IDF, Shin Bet, and special forces eliminated Qais Bitawi, head of Hamas’s local operations in the former Jenin refugee camp, along with two other associates in an airstrike. Weapons were found in the vehicle they were traveling in.
The operation was carried out with intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet and military intelligence and led by the Menashe Brigade. Air Force aircraft struck the vehicle carrying Bitawi and the two associates, after which security forces operated in the area. According to a security source quoted after the strike, the Shin Bet had been tracking one of the targets for a period, and intelligence indicated he was engaged in preparations for an attack. After closing the intelligence loop, the decision was made to strike from the air.
The IDF said Bitawi was involved in advancing significant terror activities, including directing, financing, and carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces. In addition, he maintained contacts with Hamas operatives in Gaza and abroad. Bitawi is a relative of Nour Bitawi, commander of the Jenin terror organization who was eliminated by security forces in May 2025.
The Jenin strike marked yet another use by the IDF of airstrikes against terror targets in Judea and Samaria. After years in which aircraft were almost never used for targeted strikes in the area, since 2023 air capability has become a more significant tool in operations against terror organizations in Samaria.
The two operations within less than a day—in Jenin and Gaza—join IDF activity in recent days against operatives who, according to the military, were engaged in advancing attacks and attempting to rebuild terror organizations’ capabilities. On Thursday, the IDF also eliminated Ibrahim Nabil Ibrahim Bas in Gaza, a terrorist in Hamas’s military wing who participated in the October 7 massacre, and Hamdi Ahmed Hamed Kuhail, a terrorist in the observation unit of ‘Palestinian’ Islamic Jihad.