IDF kills Hamas terrorist involved in Nova festival massacre on Oct. 7

Over the past 24 hours, the Israel Air Force attacked dozens of terrorist targets throughout the Strip, including gunmen, arms depots, anti-tank positions, terror tunnels, and other Hamas infrastructure.

By JNS

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Sunday that it had eliminated a Hamas terrorist who was involved in the Nova music festival massacre and infiltrated Kibbutz Re’im as part of the Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught.

Arafat Diab, of the Hamas Sheikh Radwan Battalion, was killed in a May 31 airstrike coordinated by the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the army stated, adding that the terrorist also “commanded a police station for the group and promoted terror operations against Israeli civilians.”

Hamas murdered more than 300 civilians at the site of the Nova music festival, while more than 40 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages. At the nearby Kibbutz Re’im, seven civilians were killed, and five were taken captive.

Israeli soldiers continue to operate—under the direction of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet—against terrorist groups in Gaza as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” the IDF said on Sunday.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israel Air Force attacked dozens of terrorist targets throughout the Strip, including gunmen, arms depots, anti-tank positions, terror tunnels and other Hamas infrastructure.

The military’s 98th Paratroopers Division, aka the Fire Formation, on Saturday ordered an airstrike on “dozens of terrorists” who posed a threat to the forces, the IDF said in the statement.

Additionally, the 282nd Artillery Brigade eliminated terrorists hiding in a command-and-control center in the Jabalia area of the northern Strip.

On Saturday, the IDF killed a terrorist leader who was “directly involved” in the kidnapping of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Kfir and Ariel, from Kibbutz Nir Oz and their subsequent murder in the Gaza Strip.

Asaad Abu Sharia, slain in Gaza City, was the head of the Mujahideen Brigades (“Kataeb al-Mujahideen”).

He was “one of the ringleaders of the brutal massacre [the Oct. 7 attack] and was also involved in the abduction of the murdered couple Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein-Haggai, as well as in the kidnapping and murder of [Thai national] Nattapong Pinta, and another foreign national who is still being held.”

“Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” launched on May 16, is a wide-scale IDF campaign targeting remaining Hamas and Islamic Jihad strongholds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the campaign is aimed at establishing lasting security control throughout all of Gaza.