The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet (ISA) intelligence agency confirmed on Saturday in a joint statement the two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist battalion commanders have been eliminated.
Abdallah Khatib and Hatem Abu Aljidian were both killed in an intelligence-guided surgical airstrike Thursday on a command and control center used by operatives from the Iranian-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations.
The command and control center was embedded within the humanitarian safe zone designated for non-combatant civilians in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah.
“The strike was conducted to remove an immediate threat in the area,” the IDF and Shin Bet said in their statement.
Abdallah Khatib was the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Southern Deir al-Balah Battalion and led the terrorist activity of the battalion during the October 7th massacre in southern Israel.
Khatib also advanced and carried out other terror attacks against the State of Israel, including anti-tank missile and mortar launches.
Hatem Abu Aljidian served as commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Eastern Deir al-Balah Battalion.
Aljidian advanced and carried out attacks against IDF troops throughout the war, the IDF said.
