Israel Kills Walid Haniya, Deputy Commander in Hamas Elite Unit

The Israeli military declared on Thursday evening the death of Walid Haniya, who served as the deputy commander of a company within the elite "Nukhba" unit of Hamas's military wing.

According to the military, Israeli forces, in coordination with the Shin Bet security service, eliminated Walid Haniya two days prior. He was reportedly the leader of a group involved behind the scenes in the October 7 attack.

The Israeli army stated that Walid Haniya was implicated in directing and instructing a group of Hamas operatives before they entered southern Israel and abducted Israeli hostages into the Gaza Strip.

In recent times, Walid Haniya attempted to recruit new members to Hamas and conducted theoretical training sessions for the "Nukhba" company he commanded.

Walid Haniya is the nephew of Ismail Haniya, the former head of Hamas's political bureau.

The Israeli military confirmed that its forces remain deployed in the southern command area on the ground and will continue operations to "eliminate any threat."

Earlier, the Israeli army announced the killing of three field commanders in the Gaza Strip, whom it accused of planning imminent "terrorist" attacks within Gaza.

On Thursday, the military carried out an airstrike in Gaza that killed Islam Hassan Saleh and Sami Jamil Abu Dalal, identified by the army as leaders of a faction within the Islamic Jihad movement, as well as Ubi Mamoun Saleh Farwana, described as the deputy commander of a Hamas company.

The army added that these three militants were preparing to carry out operations against Israeli forces in the near future and posed a direct threat to the troops. It noted that they were targeted through precise airstrikes.