IDF Says Gaza Strikes Killed Nir Oz Attacker and Hamas Recruitment and Sniper Commanders

The Israel Defense Forces said on November 2 that airstrikes across Gaza had killed four Hamas military operatives on October 31, including a Nukhba member who entered Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023 massacre. The military also identified two operatives killed in separate strikes on October 22. The announcements describe a campaign targeting people involved in the original attack and in rebuilding Hamas's military capabilities.

A Nir Oz attacker killed in Khan Younis

The IDF identified the man killed in the Khan Younis strike as Muhammad Kamel Masleh Qadih. It said he had participated in the assault on Nir Oz and had responsibility for the operational readiness of Nukhba members. Nukhba is Hamas's elite assault force, whose members took part in the attacks on southern Israel.

The military's account links Qadih to both a specific community attacked in 2023 and a continuing role within Hamas's fighting organization. It placed the strike in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza on Saturday, October 31. The identification was announced on Monday, November 2, rather than on the day of the strike.

Separate strikes in central and northern Gaza

Another October 31 strike, in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza, killed Diaa Abd al-Mohsen Muhammad Abu al-Rous, whom the IDF identified as another Nukhba operative. The announcements therefore covered separate locations across the territory, with Qadih in the south and Abu al-Rous farther north in the central area.

In northern Gaza, the military named Nabil Hamad, a section head in Hamas's recruitment apparatus, and Mohannad Nader Mahmoud Dahdouh, a sniper commander. The IDF said Hamad worked to strengthen the military wing and that Dahdouh had actively fought Israeli forces and carried out attacks against them. Their stated roles place recruitment and battlefield activity within the same series of announced operations.

Two earlier deaths announced on the same day

The November 2 update also addressed strikes conducted in northern Gaza on October 22. The IDF named Wael Naif Fahmi Muslim, a Nukhba operative it said had crossed into Israel during the October 7 massacre, and Arafat Kamal Muhammad Ar'air, a squad commander in Hamas's rocket apparatus.

Those two deaths bring the number of named operatives in the November 2 announcements to six, spread across two strike dates. Four were reported killed on October 31 and two on October 22. The earlier pair adds a second participant in the 2023 assault and a rocket unit commander to the military's account of the latest targeting effort.

A commander linked to hostage captivity

The announcements followed another operation in Nuseirat on October 29. In a statement published the following day, the IDF said it killed Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, a Hamas squad commander involved in holding numerous Israeli hostages at the beginning of the war. The military named Noa Argamani, Ohad Ben Ami, Andrey Kozlov and others among those he had helped hold.

Ibrahim Gihad Muhammad Abu Oshaiba, identified as a platoon commander in Hamas's military wing, was also killed in that strike, the IDF said. The account linked the operation to the hostage detention network as well as the organization's command structure. The military attributed continuing efforts to rebuild Hamas capabilities and prepare attacks to the operatives it targeted.

Weapons depots targeted in a parallel operation

The IDF and the Israel Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet, announced a separate attack on two Hamas weapons storage facilities on the night of October 29. The facilities were in Al-Bureij and Gaza City, according to the statement carried by Israel National News on October 30.

The military said the sites contained dozens of weapons and other items, including rockets, rocket propelled grenades, explosive devices, Kalashnikov rifles, hand grenades and magazines. It reported that both storage facilities were dismantled. The stated objective was to reduce the organizations' capacity to attack Israeli troops and to prevent the replenishment of weapons stocks in Gaza.

The military's stated objectives and precautions

The IDF described the named operatives as involved in attacks or efforts to restore Hamas's capabilities in violation of the ceasefire. It said Southern Command forces remained deployed under the agreement and would continue removing threats. The operational outcomes described in these announcements, including the named deaths and destroyed depots, are the military's account.

For the weapons depot strikes, the IDF said it issued advance warnings and used precision munitions and aerial surveillance to reduce the risk to civilians. It also reported precision munitions and aerial monitoring before the October 29 Nuseirat strike. Together, the statements set out an effort directed at assault personnel, recruiting and sniper commanders, hostage custodians and stored weapons across different parts of Gaza.