Hamas commander who led attack on Israelis killed in drone strike: Israel military

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Saturday that it killed a top commander of the Hamas terrorist group in a drone strike.

Ali Qadi, a company commander in the group’s so-called Nukhba unit, who led the deadly assault on southern Israeli communities on October 7, was killed in the strike.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Israeli Air Force (IAF) said, “Based on precise IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF aircraft killed Ali Qadi, a company commander of the Hamas ‘Nukhba’ commando force, who led the terror attack in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip last weekend.”

“In 2005, Ali was apprehended following the kidnapping and murder of Israeli civilians and was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange,” the IAF tweeted further.

Confirming the news, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on X, “Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel. We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate.”

Hamas launched a wave of attacks on Israel on Saturday (October 7) that killed hundreds of people, in the biggest escalation in the conflict in decades.

Since then, the fatal assault has killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, while the Israeli counter-airstrikes have killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza. Israel has claimed roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel.