Israel delivers a major blow to Hamas with back-to-back strikes in Gaza. Hamas’s Rafah Brigade commander Nael Abu Obeid is killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to Israeli officials. Separately, the IDF says Ahmad Batash, commander of Hamas’s Jabaliya Battalion, is also killed in a strike in northern Gaza. The latest strikes target key figures in Hamas’s command structure, with Israeli officials saying the pressure on senior Hamas commanders is continuing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz also issue a warning following the strikes. 

Israel says it has killed senior Hamas operative Farah Hamed in a Gaza City airstrike, accusing him of involvement in deadly attacks dating back to the Second Intifada. According to Israeli security agencies, Hamed was linked to the Silwad cell, which carried out shooting attacks in the West Bank. Israeli authorities also say he was involved in recruiting and directing attacks through Hamas’s West Bank Headquarters. The Israeli security establishment says the strike was carried out in a joint operation involving the elite Gideonim unit of Israel Police, the Shin Bet and the IDF.