The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) killed Haitham Razek abd al-Karim Sheikh Khalil, a commander in Hamas's Shejaiya battalion, in Gaza City on Wednesday, the military confirmed on Thursday.
The commander had participated in the invasion of Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and executed multiple attacks against the IDF in combat zones since the beginning of the war, the IDF said.
Part of those attacks saw boobytraps and explosives planted where the IDF operated.
Participation in Oct. 7
The terrorist reportedly worked as a Nukhba platoon commander at the time of the massacre and had worked as the head of Hamas's tunnel operations. He later took the role as commander of the Shejaiya battalion following the deaths of the battalions' prior commanders, Jamil Wadia and Fahim Farhat.
Khalil was killed during a strike on a Hamas command and control center operating only a kilometer from IDF troops.
The military said that while Hamas was "brutally exploiting" civilian infrastructure and populations, the IDF took steps to mitigate harm to Palestinians.
Hamas claimed that 29 civilians were killed in the strike, the majority of them women and children, wounded 50 and trapped dozens under the rubble.
"These ongoing massacres against our defenseless people, with full support from the complicit US administration, represent a shameful stain on the international community, which remains helpless and inactive in the face of one of the most horrific episodes of mass killing and organised genocide," the terror group said in a statement.
Hamas has yet to confirm or comment on the death of Khalil.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed that 8- people, mostly women and children, were killed in the strike and claimed "The occupation's allegations of targeting a 'leading group affiliated with the Hamas movement' are nothing more than a flimsy cover to justify a heinous and deliberate crime."