The IDF undertook some significant targeted operations in Gaza on Tuesday but was still comparatively on the same low burn in terms of operations, on which it has been since six Israeli hostages were found dead this past weekend.
In one operation, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) killed Ahmed Fozi Nazer Muhammad Wadia, the commander of the Nukhba company who oversaw the massacre in Netiv Ha’asara on October 7, the military said.
Wadia was killed along with eight Hamas terrorists of the Daraj Tuffah Battalion in an airstrike on a compound in Gaza City, located in the vicinity of the Al-Ahli Hospital compound, the IDF added.
On October 7, Wadia, an operative in Hamas’s Paraglider unit, raided Netiv Ha’asra – an Israeli community on the Gaza border – using a paraglider and directed Hamas’s killing of civilians in the area.
The military further stated that Wadia sat in the home of Gil Taasa, who was murdered during the massacre and drank a beverage in front of Taasa’s children.
An additional terrorist who was eliminated in the strike was responsible for the Daraj Tuffah Battalion’s engineering, its sniper unit, and anti-tank operations, the IDF noted. He was in charge of supplying the explosives with which Hamas blew through the security fence at the Gaza border on October 7.
The IDF said that the attack was carried out in a precise strike just outside of the hospital area.
The military added that, before the strike, it took measures to prevent civilian harm.
“My sons are happy, and that’s the most important thing,” Taasa’s wife, Sabin, told Channel 12 on Tuesday.
Sabin added that one of her sons said, “I personally could come full circle only when knowing that all Hamas terrorists had been eliminated,” including the terror group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar.
In a second operation, the IDF announced that fighter jets had struck the former college known as “Nama” in Gaza City because it was being used by Hamas as a base from which to launch attacks against IDF troops in the area.
According to the military, it had acted in a targeted manner guided by intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Shin Bet, and the Southern Command of the IDF.
“Hamas terrorists used the command and control complex to plan and carry out terrorist acts against the IDF and the State of Israel. Before the attack, many steps were carried out… to reduce the chance of harm to civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, visual intelligence, and additional intelligence,” said the IDF.
Situation in Israel's North
Meanwhile, in the North, Hezbollah continued a trend of low-grade attacks in recent days after several days in which it had barely attacked at all.
A Hezbollah drone containing explosives struck an open area near Manara in the Galilee, causing fires in the nearby fields.
The IDF did not mention trying to shoot it down, suggesting that it penetrated Israel’s air defense systems.
At press time, firefighters were trying to get the fire under control.
In another incident, the IDF shot down a different Hezbollah drone with air raid sirens sounding near Arab al-Aramshe and Hanita in the Western Galilee.
Hezbollah admitted that it targeted Manara with “appropriate weapons, causing fire” and also claimed to have caused casualties, despite IDF denials and despite the fact that the IDF regularly acknowledges when there are casualties.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah fired several rockets into Israel from Lebanon.
One of the rockets struck the Arab el-Aramsha area in northern Israel. Although no casualties were reported, it was unclear why the IDF did not shoot the rocket down.
Also, an IDF spokesperson announced on Tuesday that a Hezbollah terrorist was detected entering a military structure in the Markaba area in southern Lebanon. Air Force fighter jets attacked the structure which he had entered.
Fighter jets also attacked another Hezbollah military site in the Rihan region of southern Lebanon.
Despite the above tensions, the northern border has still been overall much quieter since the largest exchange of fire of the war between the sides on August 25.