Airstrike kills Hamas leader

Palestinians check the destruction in Deir el-balah in the central Gaza Strip. Pics/AFP

Israel confirmed on Thursday morning the death of a senior Hamas commander who directed terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. The Israel Defence Forces said it received intelligence verifying that Nael Sakhl was killed in an airstrike on July 24.

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For over a decade, Sakhl operated in Hamas' "West Bank Headquarters," which directed terror activities in Judea and Samaria. According to the IDF, Sakhl was also involved in financing and supplying weapons to the terror cells planning attacks against civilians and soldiers. Sakhl was one of 1,027 prisoners freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal. He was serving a life sentence for his involvement in a 2003 suicide bombing.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 111 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.

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