Weekend strikes kill several Hamas operatives, including Oct. 7 invaders, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that a series of attacks over the weekend killed several of the terror group's fighters, including one in a strike in central Gaza.

The Sunday strike in Deir al-Balah killed Hassam Osama Hussein Nasir, who the military said was advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians. Hamas did not immediately comment on the military's allegation.

Gaza health officials, who operate under the terror group, said that in addition to Nasir, the strike killed a three-year-old boy, Tayyem Hamdan, and wounded several others.

The IDF said it took steps to minimize harm to civilians in the strike. It justified the attack amid an ongoing ceasefire by saying it was carried out because the Hamas operative "posed an immediate threat."

The military cited the same terms regarding other strikes it carried out on Saturday, which also killed terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

It announced that a strike in northern Gaza's Jabalia killed Abd al-Fatah Abu al-Eish, a Hamas Nukhba Force commander who invaded Israel on October 7.

The same strike also killed Raed Adel Mohammed Alyan, a Hamas operative, according to the military.

The IDF said both operatives had been advancing attacks on troops and civilians, as well as trying to restore Hamas capabilities, "all in violation of the ceasefire agreement."

The strike was carried out to "remove the threat," the military added.

[Embedded IDF X post, 6:03 AM, Aug 30, 2026:]
קידם מתווי טרור בטווח הזמן המיידי: צה"ל חיסל מפקד נוח'בה בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס שפשט לשטח מדינת ישראל בטבח ה-7 באוקטובר

צה"ל תקף אתמול במרחב ג'באליה שבצפון רצועת עזה, וחיסל את המחבל עבד אלפתאח אבו-אלעיש, מפקד נוח'בה בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס>>>

Two other members of the Nukhba Force were killed in a second Saturday strike in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a separate announcement.

The military said the strike in Khan Younis killed Yasser Abu al-Khair and Mohammed al-Din, both of whom, it claimed, had been advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians.

On Saturday, the IDF said that a Hamas commander who was planning attacks was killed in a strike in central Gaza.

The IDF said the commander was targeted in a strike in the Deir al-Balah area, while "hiding adjacent to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital." The military said that it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians in the area.

"This is another example of Hamas's cynical use of humanitarian infrastructure and Hamas's systematic embedding within medical facilities to advance and carry out terror activity," the military said.

The IDF said the Hamas commander had recently been advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, as well as acting to restore the capabilities of the terror group, "while systematically violating the ceasefire."

"The strike was carried out to remove the threat," the army added.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of embedding fighters in civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and medical facilities.

The hospital's director, Raed Hussein, said that the facility "was targeted, with a small storage facility hit."

"Thankfully, there were no major casualties, apart from four minor injuries," he told AFP, but said the strike had "caused extensive material damage."

AFP footage from the scene showed several damaged water tanks on the roof of a building and debris down below.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that it was "appalled by reports of an Israeli airstrike within the Al-Aqsa Hospital compound," adding that "hospitals should be safe places for patients and healthcare workers."

"At a time when Israeli forces are routinely targeting hospitals, it is of utmost importance that all parties respect and preserve the neutrality and protection of medical facilities," it wrote on X.

Gaza's civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said four people were killed in strikes across the territory on Saturday.

The military also announced that a Hamas commander and a sniper in the terror group were killed in a strike in the northern Gaza Strip the day before.

The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, with the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

An October 2025 US-backed ceasefire halted major fighting in the shattered territory, but it failed to end strikes by the Israeli military, which it said aimed to thwart attacks by Hamas and other Gaza terrorists. Gaza remains bisected into Israeli- and Hamas-controlled areas.

Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement a broader plan by US President Donald Trump to end the Gaza conflict, which also includes Israeli withdrawals and Hamas disarmament. However, the terror group has refused to completely give up its weapons or disarm at all until Israel withdraws.

More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gazan health officials, while the Israeli military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.