Middle East & North Africa
IDF: Nukhba cell commander who stormed the Re’im base on October 7 killed – “Hamas rebuilding in violation of the ceasefire”
The IDF said it killed Maher Walid Omar al-Husseini, a Nukhba cell commander who it says broke into the Re'im base on October 7, 2023, in an air strike in southern Gaza on October 14.
The Israeli army announced on Friday, October 16, that it had killed Maher Walid Omar al-Husseini, a Nukhba cell commander, the special forces of Hamas’s military wing, who according to the IDF broke into the Re’im base in southern Israel during the attack of October 7, 2023. According to Ynet and the Times of Israel, al-Husseini was killed in an air strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, October 14, with the announcement coming two days later.
“Recently he advanced attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers and tried to restore Hamas’s capabilities, in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” the IDF said. “The terrorist was eliminated to remove the threat he posed.” The army also released a video of the strike, without specifying the exact location. The identity and role of the dead man rest solely on Israeli statements, and Hamas has not commented.
The Re’im base, headquarters of the IDF’s Gaza Division, was one of the military installations attacked on October 7, 2023. Hamas gunmen entered the camp and killed 19 Israeli soldiers in fighting that lasted several hours. The attack largely paralysed the division’s ability to coordinate the response to the attacks across southern Israel until Israeli forces regained control of the base later the same day. The IDF has previously announced the deaths of other Hamas members linked to the attack on the base, such as Ahmad Bayouk in February and Yahya Hamdan in July 2026.
The announcement is part of a series of similar targeted strikes over the past week. The same day the IDF announced the death of Mohammed Hala, an official of Hamas’s weapons-production headquarters who also took part in the incursion into Israel on October 7, while on October 11 it had announced the death of Hisham Abu Ghala, a Nukhba platoon commander and one of the leaders of the attack on the Kissufim outpost.
The strikes continue despite the ceasefire, with Israel accusing Hamas of rebuilding, while Netanyahu warns his opponents “not to test” Israel and Defence Minister Israel Katz attacks Ankara over its support for Hamas.
