The Israel Defense Forces said it killed two commanders involved in the October 7 attack in separate strikes over the weekend. Muhammad al-Namrouti, a Hamas commander who infiltrated Israel on October 7 and later helped hold hostages in the terror group's tunnels, was killed in a strike in southern Gaza. In a separate strike in central Gaza, the military said it killed Muawiya al-Aidi, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander who participated in the massacre at Kibbutz Be'eri. According to the IDF, both had posed an immediate threat to troops and civilians.
The IDF has now identified the two commanders killed over the weekend as Muhammad al-Namrouti, a Hamas platoon commander who infiltrated Israel on October 7 and later held hostages in Hamas tunnels, and Muawiya al-Aidi, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad platoon commander who participated in the massacre at Kibbutz Be'eri. The identification came in an IDF announcement Wednesday afternoon, confirming and consolidating earlier reports. As The Zioneer first reported at 14:16, the military initially disclosed that it had eliminated a Hamas platoon commander who held hostages and an Islamic Jihad commander who infiltrated Be'eri, without naming them. By the next iteration at 14:23, The Zioneer reported the same with slightly fuller spelling of the commanders' names. The Wednesday announcement provides full names and additional operational context: both men were killed because they posed an immediate threat to troops and civilians, the IDF said.
The thread began at 14:16 Jerusalem, when The Zioneer reported that the IDF had struck two platoon commanders over the weekend — one a Hamas commander involved in holding hostages in tunnels, the other an Islamic Jihad commander who infiltrated Kibbutz Be'eri and was involved in planting explosives. At 14:16 as well, a second version added that one of the operatives was holding hostages at the time of the operation. By 14:23, the story was updated with the partially identified names. The evolution of identification shows a standard IDF release process: initial operational reports without names, followed by named confirmation hours later. Across the thread, all versions describe the strikes as precision operations and both targets as posing an immediate threat.
The operations continue a sustained campaign of targeted killings against mid-level field commanders from both Hamas and Islamic Jihad who played direct roles in the October 7 attack. Over the past two weeks, The Zioneer has reported the elimination of at least six company, platoon, and cell commanders across Gaza, including on June 13 a Hamas battalion commander in Khan Younis named Muhammad al-Namruti (a separate person from the operative killed this weekend), and on June 15 two Hamas cell commanders killed in central and northern Gaza. The IDF has described all as having participated in the October 7 infiltration or posed ongoing threats to troops.
The military did not disclose the precise dates or munitions used in either strike, nor provide casualty figures or information about other operatives who may have been killed alongside the commanders. The claims rely solely on IDF statements and have not been independently verified.
5 developments
- StrongIDF kills two Hamas cell commanders in central and northern Gaza strikes
- ConfirmedIDF kills two Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in southern Gaza strike
- DevelopingIDF Eliminates 4 Islamic Jihad Commanders in Gaza Strike
- DevelopingIDF eliminates senior Hamas commander involved in October 7 infiltration at Kisufim
Source and signal
- Internal intake