IDF confirms airstrike killed ‘top Hamas commander’ hiding in Gaza refugee camp

With the goal to “eliminate Hamas” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed a top Hamas commander that was hiding among a Gaza refugee camp. The IDF confirmed that the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, Ibrahim Biari, was killed in the strike, as were a “large number of terrorists who were with Biari.”

The IDF said fighter jets struck the refugee camp because it was a “wide-scale strike on terrorists and terror infrastructure.” Biari was described as one of the leaders of the October 7th slaughter in Israel. The IDF said Biari and Hamas “had taken over civilian buildings” and that tunnels under them had collapsed.

The IDF posted a photo of Biari on its official social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter, with key points about him: “Responsible for dispatching Nukhba terrorists to Israel in the murderous terror attack of October 7th”, “involved in dispatching the terrorists in the 2004 Ashdod Port Terror Attack, in which 13 Israelis were killed, directing rocket attacks towards Israel over the course of two decades and advancing attacks against IDF forces” and “responsible for managing the fight against IDF forces int eh Northern Gaza Strip in the past days.”

In an additional post, the IDF wrote, “over the past day, IDF troops operated in a Hamas terrorist stronghold in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. The stronghold was used for training and execution of terrorism activities. During the ground activity, the troops eliminated approx. 50 terrorists, as well as destroyed entrances to terrorist tunnels and weapons.”

News reports indicate “dozens were killed” in the airstrike, but outlets vary in the reported numbers.