Hamas mastermind of deadly kibbutz attack killed in IDF airstrike

As Israeli forces continue to mount their response to the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed well over a thousand and injured many more, word has emerged that one of the men behind the murderous assault on a kibbutz has since been “neutralized,” as the New York Post reports.

The individual at issue, Billal Al Kedra, was said to have been the mastermind of the attack on Kibbutz Nirim earlier this month, which left dozens of civilians dead.

Hamas commander killed

Al Kedra's official role was that of commander of the southern Khan Yunis Nukhba forces, and he was reportedly killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza on Saturday.

Substantiating claims of Al Kedra's death, the IDF released video footage depicting a targeted missile strike on the structure in which the Hamas commander was said to have been hiding.

The building in the video was destroyed by the missile, and IDF representatives stated that “Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives were also neutralized” in the incident.

Elaborating on the broader operation in which Al Kedra was killed, the Israeli military's statement added, “The IDF also struck over 100 military targets located in Zaytun, Khan Yunis, and west Jabaliya.”

The strikes, the IDF continued, took a toll on Hamas “by targeting its operational command centers, military compounds, dozens of launchers, anti-tank missile launch posts and observation posts.”

IDF notches more successful strikes

The death of Al Kedra was not the IDF's only notable accomplishment in its campaign against Hamas leaders in the past few days, as the Post noted that Muetaz Eid – commander of the Southern District of National Security – was killed on Sunday.

The elimination of Eid comes days after a founding member of Hamas – Abd al-Fattah Dukhan – died in a Tuesday attack on the Gaza Strip, as the Post noted separately.

Known to many as “Abu Osama,” Dukhan's history with Hamas dated back to 1987, when he was part of the Muslim Brotherhood gathering at which the now-infamous terror group was created by Palestinian Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

The IDF last week also publicized the killing of two more top officials in the Hamas hierarchy as a direct result of airstrikes conducted in Gaza.

According to the Israel National News, Zachariah Abu Ma'amar and Jawad Abu Shamala died in a bombing incident on the same day Dukhan perished, developments that appear to be in keeping with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow that every member of Hamas was, in essence, “a dead man.”