Hamas commander, linked to recruitment of fighters, killed in Israeli strike

Israel killed a senior Hamas commander in a strike on Gaza City, according to statements from both Israeli security agencies and the Palestinian militant outfit. Farah Hamed, who was a commander in Hamas’s military wing, was killed on Wednesday, the group reportedly said.

The strike was carried out by the Israel Police's specialised Gideonim unit (Unit 33), in a joint operation with Israeli internal security agency Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli officials said, per The Times of Israel.

A drone-view footage of the targeted strike has also surfaced on X. It shows two motorbike-borne men being hit by an apparent aerial strike.

Hamed was reportedly a member of the "Silwad cell," which operated during the Second Intifada – an armed conflict that started as a Palestinian uprising and which lasted from September 2000 to early 2005.

He was involved in several shooting attacks. Hamed was released by Israel in 2011 as part of a prisoner swap.

The Shin Bet described Hamed as a "senior figure" in a Hamas unit reportedly involved in recruiting fighters.

According to the Israeli intelligence agency, he "continued to belong to Hamas's military wing and was involved in recruiting and directing the organization to advance attacks" in the West Bank since his release.

The Shin Bet also said that he participated in fighting against IDF troops during the Gaza war.

Simultaneously, the IDF said in a post on X: "Hamed previously served as a senior operative in the [Hamas's] "West Bank Headquarters," carried out several significant terror attacks in the Binyamin area in which Israeli civilians were killed, and took part in the October 2003 shooting attack in Ein Yabrud, in which 3 IDF soldiers were killed."

Hamed's killing comes amid the broader conflict in the region involving Israel and Iran-backed proxies.

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