Terrorist freed in hostage deal among 6 killed in IDF airstrike on Gaza

IDF airstrike in Gaza kills six terrorists, including one who participated in the October 7 massacre and another who was released in the recent hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Six terrorists were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip Saturday after an IDF warplane targeted a terrorist cell operating a drone from northern Gaza near the Israeli frontier.

In the airstrike, the IDF struck a terrorist cell in the Beit Lahia area in northern Gaza, between Gaza City and the Israeli border.

The six slain terrorists included a terrorist who infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7th massacre and a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group who was recently freed by Israel as part of the hostage deal.

The targeted terrorists were operating a drone intended to facilitate terrorist activities against IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip. Based on intelligence regarding terrorist activity in the area, it was determined that the drone was consistent with those used in the past by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

On Sunday morning, the IDF identified the six slain terrorists as Mustafa Muhammad Shaaban Hamad, a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7th massacre; Mahmoud Yahya Rashdi Al-Saraj, a Hamas engineering specialist; Bilal Mahmoud Fuad Abu Matar, a Hamas terrorist who operated under the guise of a photographer; Mahmoud Imad Hassan Aslim, a terrorist from Hamas’s Zaytoun Battalion who operated under the guise of a journalist; Zuheib Basem Khaled Nagar, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who was released as part of the latest hostage deal; and Muhammad Alaa Subhi Al-Jafir, a Hamas terrorist.

Later on Sunday, the IDF killed two Hezbollah terrorists operating as lookouts in southern Lebanon, in the area of Yatar and Meiss el Jabal.