IAF eliminates Hamas anti-tank operative after waiting for child to leave area

Five other terrorists killed in additional airstrike in northern Gaza

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Acting on information from Israel's security agency, Shin Bet, and IDF military intelligence, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck and killed Hamas terrorist Ahmed Yasser Alkara in Khan Younis on Wednesday.

Alkara was a significant anti-tank missile operative who carried out several attacks on IDF soldiers during the war and reportedly participated in the Oct. 7 terror attack, according to the IDF

During the operation, the IDF temporarily aborted the strike after a drone operator with Unit 414 spotted a child near the compound where Alkara was located.

After confirming the child was no longer in the vicinity, the IAF continued its strike, eliminating Alkara, and two additional terrorists: Saib Raed Abu Riba, a Hamas Nukhba terrorist, along with a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza, Anis Muhammad Abu Ragila.

"Alkara participated in the terrorist attack near the Gaza Strip on October 7, and during the fighting tried to fire many times at our forces in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF Spokesman’s Office announced.

In another operation, IAF fighter jets, acting on intelligence, eliminated five Hamas terrorists who were operating from inside the Faami Aljerjawi School in Daraj Tuffah in northern Gaza. Among the terrorists eliminated were Fadi Salim, the head of Hamas’ Gaza Brigade Propaganda, as well as three Hamas intelligence operatives and an additional Nukhba terrorist.

The IDF also announced the elimination of another group of terrorists in central Gaza who were hiding in a UNRWA school in Nuseirat.

Hamas terrorists, including an anti-tank operative and a Nukhba terrorist, were operating from a compound located inside the UNRWA school. The school compound contained weapons, including mortars and explosives, as evidenced by the numerous secondary explosions after the strike.

According to the IDF, “the strike was carefully planned and carried out using precise munitions to mitigate any harm to civilians in the area.”

“This is further evidence of Hamas’ systematic exploitation of civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and residential buildings, for its terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip,” the statement added.

Israel has exposed several instances of schools, mosques, and hospitals being used for weapons storage, and other terror activities since the start of the IDF's ground campaign in Gaza.