IDF says killed Hamas commander of Beit Lahia Battalion who directed attacks on Erez
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday it killed the commander of Hamas’ Beit Lahiya Battalion, Nisam Abu Ajina, in an overnight airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip.
“Yesterday, based on IDF and ISA [Israeli Security Agency] intelligence, IDF fighter jets struck the Commander of the Beit Lahia Battalion of Hamas’ Northern Brigade, Nasim Abu Ajina, who directed the massacre on October 7th in the Kibbutz Erez and Moshav Netiv HaAsara,” the IDF said in a statement.
It added: “In the past, Abu Ajina commanded Hamas’ Aerial Array, and took part in the development of the UAVs and paragliders of the terrorist organization. His elimination constitutes a significant blow to the Hamas terror group’s efforts to disrupt the IDF’s ground operations,” in the Gaza Strip.
Separately, the IDF said its troops killed “numerous” Hamas members during ground operations in the Gaza Strip over the past day, as well as striking some 300 targets.
“Over the last day, combined IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including anti-tank missile and rocket launch posts below shafts, as well as military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement.
It added that the targets hit by ground, air and navy forces included anti-tank guided missile and rocket launch positions, tunnel entrances and Hamas military compounds.
The IDF stated: “During the forces’ ground operations, the soldiers had several engagements with terrorist cells that fired both anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire toward them. The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure.”