IDF and Shin Bet Disclose Killing Six Terrorists in Khan Younis Strikes

The IDF and Shin Bet said on November 4 that they had killed six terrorists in airstrikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on November 1 and 2. Their joint announcement identified operatives from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Army of Islam. The disclosure concerned strikes carried out on Sunday and Monday, rather than new attacks on Wednesday. The security agencies said two strikes on Monday killed Mahmoud Jihad Mohammad Qafa, who headed a sniper cell in Hamas’s military wing, and Asaad Suleiman Salman Qashta, an Army of Islam operative involved in smuggling into the Gaza Strip. They said the men had worked to advance attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and rebuild their organizations’ capabilities. A separate strike on Sunday killed four others, according to the statement: Mohammad Zakaria Al-Jamal, a Hamas cell leader; Mohammad Amin Al-Namas, a Hamas military-wing operative; Shaher Mohammad Zaarab, a company commander in Hamas’s Nukhba force; and Mohammad Ali Abu Shaar, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad sniper operative. The agencies said the six had pursued such activity throughout the war and particularly recently, while systematically violating the ceasefire. “The terrorists were eliminated in aerial strikes in order to remove the threat they posed,” the IDF and Shin Bet said. The English statement said measures taken before the attacks to reduce harm to civilians included precision munitions and aerial surveillance. It added that security forces remained deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and would continue acting against threats.