Israel says strikes in Gaza killed more than 10 militants in a week

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said they killed more than 10 militants in a series of strikes across the Gaza Strip over the past week, and destroyed a workshop used to produce weapons. In a joint statement published by the IDF spokesperson, the two bodies said some of those killed had crossed into Israel during the Hamas-led attack of October 7.

According to the military, the men targeted were planning attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians and were working to rebuild the fighting capacity of Hamas. The IDF's post on X said their activity was carried out "in systematic violation of the ceasefire." The announcement was also carried by N12 and Ynet, two of Israel's main Hebrew-language news outlets.

Who the military named

The Times of Israel reported three names released by the IDF from among the dead. All of the identifications below are the military's own:

• Muhammad Atta Zaki Qishawi, whom the military calls a Nukhba Force member of Hamas and says crossed into Israel in the October 7, 2023 attack.
• Ali Naim Ayesh Abu Osai, described as belonging to a group called the Saif al-Islam faction and as being involved in producing weapons for Hamas. The military linked him to the workshop it says it destroyed.
• Hani Ibrahim Said Khudari, described as commanding a supply platoon in the Sabra Battalion of Hamas in Gaza City, and as another man who crossed into Israeli territory on October 7.

The IDF's own summary on X referred to 2 Hamas members among the dead who had entered Israel during the October 7 attack, which matches the two such names listed in the Times of Israel report.

The bodies behind the announcement

The IDF is Israel's military. The Israel Security Agency, often called the Shin Bet or, in Hebrew, the Shabak, is the country's domestic security and counterterrorism service. It is responsible for much of the intelligence work behind targeted strikes on individual militants, which is why operations of this kind are frequently announced jointly by the two organisations.

The Nukhba Force is the name Israel uses for the elite commando units of Hamas, the Islamist group that has ruled Gaza. Israel has said Nukhba fighters formed the core of the forces that broke through the border on October 7, 2023, the attack that triggered the war in Gaza. In Israeli military statements, a link to that day is commonly highlighted when a person killed is identified.

Gaza City, where the military placed the Sabra Battalion, is the largest urban area in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Hamas organised its armed wing into territorial brigades and battalions, and Israeli statements frequently identify militants by the unit to which they belonged.

The ceasefire framing

The military presented the strikes as a response to breaches of the ceasefire in Gaza, saying the men were preparing attacks and helping Hamas recover its capabilities. That phrasing reflects Israel's stated position that it will act against militants it considers a threat even while the truce is in force. The reports reviewed here do not describe the terms of the ceasefire or say which specific provisions the military believes were breached.

Slight differences between the reports

The reports agree on the core facts but describe them in slightly different terms. The IDF said the workshop was "dismantled", while the Times of Israel and its military correspondent Emanuel Fabian wrote that the military bombed a weapons production site and that it was destroyed in a strike. The Times of Israel headline referred to 10 operatives, while the body of the same report and every other account put the figure at more than 10. Neither difference changes the substance of what the military announced.

What the reports do not say

All of the details come from the IDF and the ISA; none of the reports describes independent confirmation of the identities of those killed, their affiliations or the number of dead. The military did not publish a full list of names, so the exact total beyond "more than 10" is unknown. The reports give no dates or locations for the individual strikes, other than placing one unit in Gaza City, and do not say where the workshop stood. No response from Hamas or other Palestinian groups, and no figures from health authorities in Gaza on casualties from these strikes, appear in the material.