Netanyahu and Katz say Israeli forces killed Hamas commander Izz al Din Bik

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said on the morning of 29 September 2026 that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed Izz al Din Bik in Gaza overnight. According to the joint statement published by the Israeli government, Bik commanded the Hamas brigade responsible for the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The two ministers described Bik as having taken part in planning attacks on Israeli troops and as having been active in bringing new members into Hamas. The statement, also carried as a media statement on the government portal, praised the IDF and the Israel Security Agency for their action against Hamas figures and said Israel would keep going after the group's members at every level, "until Hamas no longer exists in Gaza."

Who issued the statement

The announcement came jointly from the two officials at the top of Israel's civilian chain of command over the military. The prime minister heads the government, and the defence minister is the cabinet member with direct responsibility for the armed forces. Joint statements of this kind are a common way for the Israeli government to announce the results of military operations it regards as significant.

The government published the text in two places on its official website, gov.il. One version indicates that the original statement was issued in Hebrew and dates it Tuesday, 29 September 2026. The wording of the two English versions is the same, and both were issued by the government itself rather than by an independent news organisation.

The IDF and the ISA

The IDF is Israel's military, covering the army, air force and navy. The ISA, the Israel Security Agency, is the country's domestic security and counterterrorism service. It is widely known by its Hebrew acronyms, Shin Bet or Shabak. The ISA supplies intelligence for many IDF operations against armed groups, and it is common for Israeli statements about the killing of militant commanders to credit both bodies together, as this one does.

Hamas and northern Gaza

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist movement and armed group, designated a terrorist organisation by Israel and a number of other governments. Its military wing is organised into regional formations, and the statement refers to Bik as the head of the formation covering the north of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is a narrow coastal territory on the Mediterranean, bordering Israel and Egypt.

The statement places Bik's killing within a broader Israeli campaign against the group. Its closing line restates a stated objective of the Israeli government: that Hamas should cease to exist as a force in Gaza. The ministers said Israel would "hunt and pursue" members of the group from senior commanders to rank-and-file fighters, wherever they are.

How the claims are presented

All of the information about Bik, including his role and his alleged activities, comes from the Israeli government. The statement uses the word "eliminated" to describe his killing, a term routinely used in official Israeli announcements about targeted operations against militant commanders. No other organisation's account of the event appears in the material available to us.

What the statement does not say

The joint statement leaves several basic questions unanswered. It does not say where in Gaza the operation took place, or whether it was carried out from the air or on the ground. It does not say whether anyone else was killed or injured.

It gives no details of the specific attacks on Israeli forces that Bik is said to have been involved in, and no information about how long he had held his command or who might replace him.

The material also contains no response from Hamas, no confirmation of Bik's death from any Palestinian source, and no account from the IDF or the ISA separate from the ministers' statement. Until other parties report on the event, the description of what happened rests on the Israeli government's account alone.