On Cam: IDF 'Eliminates' Top Hamas Sniper And Nukhba Forces Commander In Gaza Strike

The Israeli military has announced the killing of a leading Hamas sniper who it says participated in the unprecedented attack on southern Israel in October last year. Ahmed Hassan Salame Alsauarka, who was a Nukhba forces commander, was eliminated in a precision strike in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.

“ELIMINATED: A Leading Hamas Sniper and Nukhba Forces Commander who Participated in the Oct. 7 Massacre. IAF aircraft conducted a precise and targeted strike to eliminate the Hamas terrorist Ahmed Hassan Salame Alsauarka in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza,” the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said in a post on Thursday.

“Alsauarka was a squad commander in the Nukhba Forces who infiltrated into and carried out attacks on communities in southern Israel during the Oct. 7 Massacre. Alsauarka led and directed sniper activity in the area of Beit Hanoun and took part in Hamas’ attacks on IDF troops,” the IDF added. Before the strike, several steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians during the operation, the IDF said.

“As a result, no civilians were injured during the strike,” it added. This Gaza strike comes as Israel and Hezbollah traded fresh cross-border fire, as fears of a regional conflict grew. Israel recently revealed it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive and the militants vowed to blanket their foe in rockets.

Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel Thursday in retaliation for a deadly air strike in south Lebanon that Israel said killed one of the group’s operatives. Hezbollah also claimed several other attacks on Israeli troops and positions over the course of the day.

The Israeli military said its jets had struck two weapons storage facilities and several other sites belonging to the group, and that it had fired artillery “to remove threats in multiple areas in southern Lebanon”. Just before midnight, the army said it had “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon”.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the Gaza war, and the bellicose talk has escalated along with the strikes. The October Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people. The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 41 are dead. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 37,431 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

(With agency inputs)