The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it has eliminated Hamas commander Anas Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, who infiltrated Israel and took part in the Nova Music Festival Massacre on October 7.
Hamed was killed in a targeted Monday attack in Gaza, the IDF announced on Tuesday.
“The IDF struck yesterday in the center of the Gaza Strip, eliminating Ans Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, Nukhba commander of the terrorist organization Hamas, who invaded the territory of the State of Israel and the Nova Festival in the murderous massacre on October 7,” the IDF wrote in a post on X on Tuesday morning.
The IDF called Hamed an “imminent threat to IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip” and said he was “eliminated by a precise airstrike.”
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES IT HAS KILLED ONE OF THE OCTOBER ARCHITECTS. 7 ATTACKS
A poster of Hamas Nukhba commander Anas Muhammad Ibrahim Hamed, who the Israeli army says has been eliminated, Monday, May 4, 2026. (Israeli Armed Forces)
The IDF said forces have been deployed to the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to eliminate any immediate threat.
Nukhba, Arabic for elite, is the special forces of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Both units played an important role in the October 7 massacre. According to the IDF and the IDF, the Al-Qassam Brigades planned and executed the attack Project against extremism. Of the 6,000 terrorists who entered Israel during the attack, more than 3,800 were Nukhba fighters, the IDF said in a report. Evaluation August 2024.
The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 Israelis and prompted an extensive Israeli military campaign in Gaza. During this campaign, the IDF eliminated two commanders of the al-Qassam Brigades and numerous other members of the group’s military leadership.
ISRAELI MILITARY OPERATION IN GAZA expands to seize ‘large areas’: ‘EXPANDS to crush and clear the area’
Palestinian Hamas fighters from the al-Qassam Brigades take part in a military parade near the border in the central Gaza Strip on July 19, 2023, to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)
In a targeted attack in July 2024, the then commander of the al-Qassam Brigade, Mohammed Deif, was killed. In May 2025, another airstrike killed his replacement, Mohammad Sinwar.
The latest Israeli attack in Gaza comes just under seven months after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in October. The IDF accused Hamas of violating the February ceasefire by using ambulances to transport terrorists and weapons through the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has also accused Israel violates the ceasefire with daily airstrikes.
HAMAS TERRORISTS USE AMBULANCES, SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS IN VIOLATION OF US STATE WAIVER, SAYS IDF OFFICIAL
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio wait as President Donald Trump prepares to address the Knesset in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025. Trump visited Israel hours after Hamas released some Israeli hostages as part of a US-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza conflict. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Let’s hope we can avoid that. That’s not the outcome we want,” Rubio told Yingst. “The outcome we want is for Hamas to be demilitarized, and for a Palestinian security force, backed by an international security force, to secure Gaza.
