Hamas senior commander killed in Gaza, confirms Israel Defence Forces

Tel Aviv [Israel], October 17 : The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday confirmed that its fighter jets have killed Iman Nofal, a senior Hamas member who was a former leader of Hamas' military intelligence.
The Israel Air Force fighter jets under joint intelligence guidance with the Shin Bet, killed one of the senior members of the Hamas terrorist organization, Iman Nofal, according to Israel Air Force.
The military added that Nofal was "one of the most dominant senior officials in the organization, and was close to Muhammad Deif," the terror group's military leader.
Reportedly, he has directed many terrorist attacks against Israel and the security forces and has also directed the targets of Hamas' rocket fire, specifically targeting areas populated by uninvolved civilians.
He was also involved in the production and development of weapons and was a partner in several terrorist attacks.
Moreover, he was also involved in planning the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit, according to the Israel Air Force.
The Israel Defence Force said, "We won't stop until we eliminate Hamas."
Earlier, a senior Hamas commander Billal al-Qedra, who led multiple murderous attacks was killed during the Israeli airstrike on Sunday.
He was the commander of the so-called Nukhba unit's southern Khan Younis battalion and was killed in an airstrike following intelligence efforts by the Shin Bet security agency and Military Intelligence Directorate.
He had led the murderous attacks on the southern communities of Nirim and Nir Oz last weekend, Times of Israel reported.
"He was responsible for the murderous raid in Kibbutz Nirim and Nir Oz," the IDF said.
Notably, two commanders of Hamas terrorist group were also killed on October 14 as the 'Op Iron Swords' intensified. Israeli forces have extensively attacked the Gaza Strip and military infrastructure as part of their high-scale retaliation.
The IAF also struck over one hundred military targets located in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya.
Earlier today, the IDF identified the organisational hierarchy of the terror group and vowed to destroy and dismantle Hamas by targeting its top brass, who were "responsible" for the attacks against Israeli civilians.
The IDF posted on X, the entire hierarchy of Hamas and among them were the group's leader Ismail Haniyeh, Yehya Sinwar whom the Israeli military calls the hard-line leader of Hamas in Gaza and El Deif, the alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack.
The Israeli military calls Yehya Sinwar, the hard-line leader of Hamas in Gaza, the "face of evil." Senior officers say he is the top target for the tens of thousands of Israeli troops poised to invade the coastal enclave and destroy its leadership.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, around 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and 12,500 wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
In a previous statement, the ministry said over 750 children were among the people killed in the Israeli attacks.
Dozens of operational headquarters and mortar bomb launching positions in the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas have been destroyed in air strikes, the Israel Defense Forces announced.
Among the sites destroyed were the military headquarters of Ali Kachi, a commander of the terror organization's Najaba Force. Several terrorists inside the compound were also killed.
Earlier on Tuesday, IDF Lt Colonel Richard Hecht said, "We are preparing for the next stages of war. We haven't said what they will be. Everybody's talking about the ground offensive. It might be something different."
In the latest development, Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said that four of its members have been killed in south Lebanon, bringing to nine the number of the Iran-backed terrorist group's members killed in intensifying border skirmishes with Israel, The Times of Israel reported.
Hezbollah in his statement said that four of its operatives had been killed "performing jihad," just hours after Israel said it killed four terrorists who attempted to infiltrate the border from Lebanon.