An airstrike killed a Hamas leader who commanded the deadly Oct. 7 terrorist assault that killed more than 1,300 Israeli civilians, Israeli officials said Saturday, while thousands of residents raced to get out of an increasingly chaotic and dangerous Gaza Strip ahead of a possible full-scale ground incursion.
An airstrike killed a Hamas leader who commanded the deadly Oct. 7 terrorist assault that killed more than 1,300 Israeli civilians, Israeli officials said Saturday, while thousands of residents raced to get out of an increasingly chaotic and dangerous Gaza Strip ahead of a possible full-scale ground incursion.
The Israel Defense Forces said its strike took out Ali Qadi, a top Hamas figure who led terrorist assaults last week against Israeli settlements near the country’s border with Gaza.
“Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric Oct. 7 massacre of civilians in Israel. We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate,” the IDF said in a social media post.
Israeli officials said they arrested Qadi in 2005 in connection with the “kidnapping and murder” of Israelis. He was freed in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange.
Last weekend’s Hamas attack was the single bloodiest day for Israel in decades. At least 27 Americans were also killed in the assault, while about 150 people are believed to be held hostage by Hamas militants, including some U.S. citizens.
Israel has launched a massive military response in the days since that attack. The IDF has pounded Gaza with airstrikes and has amassed troops and equipment along the Israel-Gaza border in preparation for what looks to be a major ground operation.
