Israeli airstrike kills Hamas commander tied to Oct 7

Israeli forces have killed a senior Hamas commander who participated in the abduction of four hostages from a roadside shelter during the October 7, 2023, attacks. The Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday that Yousef Ayesh Awad Ramadan, a deputy commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force, was eliminated in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on Monday.

According to the military, Ramadan infiltrated Israeli territory near the community of Reim on October 7 and was involved in seizing Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eliya Cohen, Alon Ohel, and Or Levy from a bomb shelter at the Reim Junction. The Nukhba force is the special operations unit of Hamas’s military wing and led the cross-border assault that day.

The IDF stated that beyond his role in the initial attack, Ramadan had continued in recent weeks to advance plans for attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, posing what it described as an immediate threat to troops operating in Gaza. Officials said the strike was carried out after intelligence indicated an immediate danger and that steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.