IAF strike eliminates Hamas cell in central Gaza

The Israeli Air Force on Thursday eliminated several members of a Hamas terrorist cell that was planning an imminent attack in the central Gaza Strip, the military said on Sunday.

Among those killed in the airstrike was Hazem Rami Ali Aidi, identified by the IDF as a Hamas commander who infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Also killed were Ibrahim Mansour, described as a platoon commander involved in attacks on Israeli troops throughout the war, and Maher Tantawi, an operative in Hamas’s military intelligence unit.

“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” the military said.

Soldiers remain deployed in the Strip in accordance with the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement “and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it added.

The current ceasefire ended the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

Also on Thursday, the IDF struck terrorists transporting weapons “in a manner that posed a threat” in the southern Gaza Strip, eliminating one,” it said last week.

On Wednesday night, ground troops stationed in northern Gaza encountered several armed Hamas terrorists who approached the truce-instituted Yellow Line, the IDF said in the same statement.

“Following the identification and in order to remove the threat, the terrorists were struck and eliminated from the air,” it stated.

That same day, IDF troops eliminated two terrorists after they crossed and approached the Yellow Line in the southern and northern Strip, respectively.