The Israeli army on Tuesday (Dec 31) said that they eliminated Hamas' Nukhba Platoon commander, Abd al-Hadi Sabah in a drone strike that was conducted recently.

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Sabah, according to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), was the leader of the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz.

The Nukhba Platoon commander in Hamas' Western Khan Yunis Battalion was killed in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza, said the IDF in a statement.

Taking to their official X handle, the IDF said, "Abd al-Hadi Sabah, a Nukhba Platoon Commander in the Western Khan Yunis Battalion was eliminated in an intelligence-based IDF and ISA strike."

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"Abd al-Hadi Sabah--who operated from a shelter in the Humanitarian Area in Khan Yunis--was one of the leaders of the infiltration into Kibbutz Nir Oz during the murderous October 7 Massacre. Sabah also led and advanced numerous terrorist attacks against IDF troops throughout the current war. The IDF and ISA will continue to operate against all of the terrorists who took part in the murderous October 7 Massacre," they further added. 

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The Israeli defence had earlier said that they had killed 14 Hamas militants, out of which six were the ones involved in the Oct 7 attack. The operations were a part of IDF's 162nd "Steel" Division's ongoing activity in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

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The 162nd Division is functioning in the Jabalia and Beit Lahia as part of a joint operation between the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel's General Security Service) aimed at locating and killing militants who participated in the Oct 7 attack.

IDF kills Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket unit chief

The IDF also announced that it killed Anas Muhammad Masri, who was the commander of the northern sector of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket unit.

Masri, as per the IDF, was actively commanding rocket fire into Israel from the northern part of Gaza.

The Israeli army said that he was a “significant figure responsible for executing numerous terrorist operations, managing and directing actions by the organization that targeted Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.”

(With inputs from agencies)