After evading assassination attempt, Hamas commander killed in Gaza strike

Israel announces the targeted killing of the Hamas northern Gaza brigade commander, who was killed in a strike in Gaza City after a failed attempt on his life several months ago

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Tuesday that Israeli forces killed Izz al-Din Bik, the commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade, in an overnight strike in Gaza, months after an earlier Israeli attempt to eliminate the senior terror commander.

Bik was killed in an airstrike on an apartment in the al-Nasr neighborhood of western Gaza City early Tuesday morning.

“Overnight the IDF eliminated Izz al-Din Bik in Gaza, the commander of the northern strip brigade in the Hamas terrorist organization, who was involved in terrorist plots against our forces and worked to recruit operatives for the organization,” Netanyahu and Katz said in a joint statement.

The two leaders credited both the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) for the operation.

“We commend the IDF and the ISA for their resolute action against Hamas commanders and terrorists,” they said.

The strike brought an apparent end to a months-long effort to kill Bik, who had risen through the ranks of Hamas’ military wing and held a series of senior positions in northern Gaza.

Israel previously targeted Bik on May 27, when an airstrike hit a building in central Gaza City where he was believed to be meeting Imad Aslim, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade and commander of its Zeitoun Battalion.

Initial reports from Gaza at the time claimed both men had been killed. Aslim’s death was subsequently reported as confirmed, but the IDF did not confirm that Bik had been eliminated and said the outcome of the strike remained under examination.

Bik ultimately survived the attack.

Born in 1981, Bik joined Hamas at a young age before entering its military wing in 2000. He went on to command the Northern Gaza Brigade’s first Nukhba force and later served for roughly a decade as commander of the western Jabalia battalion.

He subsequently headed the brigade’s intelligence apparatus before becoming commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade, placing him in charge of one of Hamas’ principal military formations in the Gaza Strip. His area of responsibility included Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun.

Bik was also involved in intelligence collection and operational planning in the years preceding Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, and during the ensuing war played a senior role in Hamas operations in northern Gaza.

His death comes amid a sustained Israeli campaign against Hamas’ remaining command structure. Several brigade commanders and other senior military figures have been killed in Israeli strikes in recent months as Israel has sought to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its forces and command network.

Netanyahu and Katz indicated Tuesday that the targeting campaign would continue.

“We will continue to hunt and pursue all of the organization’s terrorists, from its commanders down to its last operative, wherever they may hide – until Hamas no longer exists in Gaza,” they said.

gaza stripHamasIDF strike