The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said Ahmed Ali, the commander of the naval unit of the Palestinian movement Hamas in Gaza City, has been killed in an airstrike.
“In a joint IDF and ISA [the Israel Securities Authority] activity based on Israeli Navy and ISA intelligence, an IAF [Israeli Air Force] aircraft eliminated the terrorist Ahmed Ali, the Commander of Hamas’ Naval Unit in Gaza City, in the past day,” the IDF said on Telegram on Wednesday.
The Israeli army added that Ali has been “involved in managing projects of Hamas’ Naval Unit in the Gaza Strip” over the past few years and was “responsible for attacks on Israeli territory and against IDF ground troops operating in the Gaza Strip” since the movement’s October 7 attack on Israel.
Over the past few weeks, Ali has been involved in Hamas attacks against Israeli soldiers operating in central Gaza.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighbourhoods and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted during the attack. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 34,800 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.
