Israeli authorities are reporting that they have killed Ali Qadhi, the senior Hamas commander who executed the deadly attacks within Israel last Saturday. As videos showed, Hamas commandos paraglided into a music festival near the Gaza border and began killing people indiscriminately while taking others hostage.
According to the Israeli Air Force, a drone strike was conducted that killed Qadhi based on recent intelligence of his whereabouts.
The Israeli Air Force says it killed a senior commander in Hamas’ commando forces, one who planned the terror attacks that massacred 1,300 Israelis on Oct. 7.
The IAF said a drone strike killed Ali Qadhi, a company commander in the Najaba force of Hamas, after obtaining intelligence from the Shin Bet security agency.
According to the Israeli military, Qadhi was arrested by Israel in 2005 for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli citizens and had been released to the Gaza Strip as part of a prisoner swap in 2011.
“Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel,” Israel Defense Forces said. “We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate.”
The military also said it killed Abu Merad, who was the head of Hamas’ air forces.
The IDF is pledging that this will not be the end of their operations. On Saturday, Israeli officials indicated that a ground invasion of Gaza was imminent, with PM Bibi Netanyahu visiting troops in the staging areas. The war from here is likely to be bloody and protracted given how dug-in Hamas fighters are expected to be. Israel has pushed back its invasion multiple times to allow Palestinian civilians to flee.
While international pressure builds on Israel to pull back, it is clear they have no intention of doing so. The goal is to destroy Hamas, and until that happens, the fighting will continue.
