The IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated Ali Qadi, the commander of the “Nakba Force” who led the Hamas massacre last week that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, the IDF announced Saturday afternoon.
IDF aircraft, with the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet and AMAN (Military Intelligence Directorate), targeted the terrorist. In 2005, Qadi was arrested following the kidnapping and murder of Israelis and was later released as part of the Gilad Shalit exchange deal.
Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel. We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 14, 2023
The announcement came shortly after a briefing by IDF Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, who told the press that the IDF has struck down 1,000 strategic Hamas locations in Gaza since Operation Swords of Iron started.
It also eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists, including many from Qadi’s Nakba Force.
In addition, the IDF assassinated Merad Abu Merad, who was the head of the Hamas aerial system, it said Saturday morning. He was primarily responsible for directing terrorists during the massacre.
IDF to step up air strikes
Hagari stressed that some 600,000 Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to the enclave’s south.
“The IDF calls on all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes, move south for their protection, and settle in the area south of the Gaza River,” an IDF statement read Thursday. “This evacuation is for your safety. Returning to Gaza City after a notification confirming [safety] will be possible. Do not approach the border fence with the State of Israel.”
Hagari reiterated that call and stressed that the IDF needed the residents to leave because it planned to target strategic Hamas targets in the area. Hamas uses the residents as human shields, putting tunnels and bunkers under houses in Gaza City and inside civilian buildings.
“We didn’t put those civilians there,” IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said in an English briefing on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday morning. “They are not our enemy. We are not trying to kill or injure any civilians. We are fighting against Hamas. That needs to be abundantly clear. We are targeting their infrastructure – wherever it is.”
Listen in as an IDF Spokesperson @jconricus provides a situational update as the war against Hamas continues. https://t.co/UeIUKgRJGu
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 14, 2023
“We appreciate the tens of thousands who have left in the last hours,” Hagari said. “Anyone who chooses not to leave puts their family in danger.”
“We didn’t put those civilians there. They are not our enemy. We are not trying to kill or injure any civilians. We are fighting against Hamas. That needs to be abundantly clear. We are targeting their infrastructure – wherever it is.”
Jonathan Conricus
However, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement in New York on Thursday that “this amounts to approximately 1.1 million people,” or nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, a task that the UN “considers impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.”
Hagari stressed that any movement of Gazans out of the enclave, even through Egypt, would be coordinated with Israel.
Multi-front escalation
At the same time as Israel is attacking Gaza, the army will also protect Israel on other fronts, Hagari added.
He stressed that the army was strong and would be able to manage Hezbollah in the north and terrorism emanating from the West Bank.
On Saturday, Hezbollah fighters fired an anti-tank missile at Israeli troops. It also sent drones into Israel and fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli aircraft, which the IDF quickly intercepted.
The IDF also foiled a cell of Palestinian terrorists that operated under Hezbollah’s direction and tried to infiltrate Israel via Lebanon, an army spokesperson said.
מצורף תיעוד מחיסול חוליית המחבלים שניסתה לחדור לשטח ישראל מלבנון הבוקר pic.twitter.com/bNtE0khDxT
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 14, 2023
Conricus stressed that as of Saturday morning, the situation at Israel’s northern border remains extremely tense, and Hezbollah’s activities are being monitored.
In the West Bank, the IDF has arrested more than 230 Hamas operatives since Operation Swords of Iron started, the military updated on Saturday morning.
The focus of the arrests has been on Hamas operatives, as well as instigators of terrorism.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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