Israeli forces kill key Hamas commander involved in Kibbutz attack, spokesperson says

International News | The Hill

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Sunday it killed a key Hamas commander who was involved with last week’s massacre in Nirim Kibbutz in southern Israel.

“The operation is ongoing. We are destroying Hamas’s capability and I would say we’re also focusing on the special forces of Hamas, the Nakba force,” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Just last night, we were able to identify and target and kill Billal al-Qedra.”

According to Lerner, al-Qedra was the commander of Hamas’s Nukhba southern unit that was “responsible” and “participated” in the attacks on Nirim Kibbutz that included the killings of women and children.

IDF posted a video of the warplane attack to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“So we’re dealing with strikes against those directly that were involved, but also against the entire institution of Hamas,” Lerner added. “…So we are striking on… across the spectrum of the institutions of Hamas from the individuals from their terrorist activities.”

Israeli’s attacks come as part of its larger counteroffensive against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, following the group’s surprise attacks on Oct. 7.

Israel has since bombarded the Gaza Strip with air strikes, and warned more than 1 million people there to evacuate in anticipation of a ground attack. The World Health Organization condemned the forced evacuations, arguing it will worsen the humanitarian catastrophe.

Fighting in Israel and Gaza has claimed over 3,600 lives — mostly civilians — from both sides, with thousands more injured over the past week. The State Department on Saturday upped confirmed American casualties to 27.

Hamas has claimed it captured over 100 hostages, and vowed last week to execute Israeli hostages if Israel continues to launch airstrikes into the region. The Biden administration has said they believe some of those hostages are Americans.