The Israeli military announced on Thursday the killing of two Hamas commanders in separate operations in the Gaza Strip. Nihad Riyad Abdul Rahim Arouq, a platoon commander in the Shati battalion, was targeted in an airstrike in northern Gaza; the military said he had infiltrated Israel during the 7 October attack and was training fighters for further operations. In a second statement, the military claimed to have assassinated Omar Ahmed Abu Qasim, a commander in Hamas’s military wing responsible for the sniper unit. Separately, Israeli forces reported killing Anas Mahmoud Ahmed, the Hamas military intelligence chief for the Khan Younis brigade, in an airstrike on his vehicle, and destroying four weapons depots in central Gaza. Hamas has not confirmed any of the reported deaths.

Viewed from Jerusalem, the operations are presented as targeted strikes against imminent threats. The Israeli military described Arouq as posing a direct danger to forces stationed inside Gaza. Palestinian health authorities in Gaza, however, report that since a ceasefire took effect in October 2025, 1,108 Palestinians have been killed and 3,578 wounded in what they describe as repeated Israeli violations. The Gaza health ministry puts the total death toll since October 2023 at over 73,000.

Israeli security assessments, cited by the public broadcaster Kan, indicate that Hamas retains a substantial fighting force despite the prolonged campaign. The group is estimated to have around 25,000 combatants, including 2,500 members of the elite Nukhba unit, out of a pre-war strength of approximately 35,000. The same assessments note that Hamas has shifted to executing alleged collaborators in secret locations, including hospital basements, to avoid public documentation. According to Kan, Hamas leaders also met Iranian officials on the sidelines of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral and submitted a document requesting that Tehran provide a “diplomatic umbrella” and use its regional influence to strengthen the group’s negotiating position.

Since the October 2025 ceasefire, the Israeli military has expanded its control from 53 percent to more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordering a push to 70 percent. Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of Central Command, said the buffer zone near the border now makes another incursion like that of 7 October impossible. Some Israeli analysts, cited in Iranian media, argue that the latest strikes may serve Netanyahu’s political interests ahead of elections. The dossier remains open: Hamas has issued no statements on the claimed assassinations, and the ceasefire continues to be tested by military action and mounting civilian casualties.