Top Hamas leader responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre killed in Israeli airstrike

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday (October 15) eliminated a high-ranking Hamas commander responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre in Israel, according to the Israel Air Force (IAF).

The airstrike took place in Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli intelligence had located Billal Al Kedra, a commander within the Nukhba force, a naval commando unit under Hamas' special forces unit known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The IAF revealed that several other Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were also killed in the airstrike.

Israeli forces conducted extensive airstrikes, targeting more than 100 military sites in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya.

As part of the extensive IDF strikes of senior operatives and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and ISA killed the Nukhba commander of the forces in southern Khan Yunis, who was responsible for the Kibbutz Nirim massacre pic.twitter.com/7QJE1LWQXf

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 15, 2023

The focus was on dismantling Hamas operational command centres and military compounds. The strikes successfully neutralized multiple anti-tank missile launch sites and observation posts.

Recently, Hamas operatives conducted a bold land-sea-air assault on Israel, infiltrating the country using motorized gliders, boats, and by foot.

Nirim, a kibbutz situated less than a mile from the Gaza border, was one of the locations where Hamas carried out a massacre during this assault.

Residents of Nirim and other small agricultural communities near the border have grown accustomed to the constant rocket attacks from Hamas.

To stay safe, they frequently seek refuge in reinforced safe rooms, sometimes even sleeping in these secure spaces. This situation has persisted since

Hamas took control of Gaza in 2005 after the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the Palestinian enclave.

In a separate incident, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City yesterday killed Murad Abu Murad, a senior military commander of Hamas responsible for the group's aerial operations.

He was killed during an airstrike on a Hamas operational centre.