(July 18, 2025 / JNS) The Israel Defense Forces killed three senior Hamas operatives in targeted strikes carried out this week in the Gaza Strip, the military said on Friday.

Among those killed were Barhoum Shahin, head of the Western Gaza District for Hamas’s General Security Apparatus, and Asham Tzartzur, who led the terrorist group’s Government Emergency Committee in eastern Gaza.

According to the IDF, both men played key roles in Hamas’s internal security and governance efforts, including supporting the terrorist group’s “military” wing and enforcing its rule through repression and violence against Gaza’s civilian population.

The military described the General Security Apparatus as a covert and influential branch of Hamas, responsible for uncovering suspected collaborators, safeguarding terrorist leaders and infrastructure, and producing intelligence assessments that aid in attacks against Israel.

The IDF said it also killed Faraj al-‘Aoul, the head of Hamas’s legal bureau and a member of its legislative council.

On Thursday, the military announced the July 10 targeted killing of Iyad Nasr, the deputy commander of Hamas’s Jabalia Battalion, who infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

According to the IDF, Nasr was wounded earlier in the war but later resumed his role in Jabalia, where he continued directing attacks against Israeli forces. In recent weeks, he was actively involved in orchestrating terrorist operations targeting troops from the IDF’s 162nd Division, the military said.

The IDF also confirmed the elimination of two additional Hamas operatives who participated in the Oct. 7 assault: Hasan Mahmoud Muhammad Mar’i, commander of the terrorist group’s Central Jabalia Company, and Muhammad Zaki Shamadeh Hamad, deputy company commander of the Beit Hanoun Battalion.

Israeli military operations across the coastal enclave are ongoing as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign with the stated goal of dismantling Hamas’s remaining military capabilities, taking control of key areas in the Strip, and securing the release of the 50 captives.

Troops from the Nahal Infantry Brigade, operating under the command of the 162nd Division, this week identified a terrorist cell armed with a rocket-propelled grenade near Israeli positions in the Daraj Tuffah area of northern Gaza. An Israeli Air Force craft, guided by soldiers on the ground, conducted a precision airstrike that eliminated the threat.

In a separate operation, IDF ground forces, in coordination with Yahalom special forces combat engineers, uncovered and dismantled a tunnel approximately 800 meters (875 yards) long and 18 meters (20 yards) deep.

The military said troops have destroyed weapons caches, observation posts and terrorist infrastructure, including a facility where Hamas operatives were hiding.

Meanwhile, the IAF on Thursday afternoon intercepted two rockets fired at the Jewish state by terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip.

Air-raid sirens sounded in the border villages of Kibbutz Mefalsim, Kibbutz Nir Am and Ibim, as well as in the nearby city of Sderot, sending tens of thousands of civilians running for shelter.

A majority of Israelis want the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli military rule after the war ends, according to a survey published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) this week.

The poll, conducted by Menachem Lazar of Lazar Research at the beginning of July, found that 52% support an Israeli takeover of Gaza with a temporary military administration—if all hostages are first released. Only 4% believe Hamas should remain in power, whether politically or militarily.

PHOTOS and VIDEO Source: The IDF   Use according to Section 27 A