The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Wednesday killing a “senior Hamas weapons developer” in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip.
“IDF troops are continuing to operate inside the Gaza Strip to kill terrorists and direct aircraft to strike terror infrastructure. Based on Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and IDF intelligence, an IDF fighter jet killed Mohsen Abu Zina, Hamas’ Head of Weapons and Industries in its manufacturing department,” the IDF said in a statement.
It added: “As part of his role, Mohsen Abu Zina served as one of Hamas’ leading weapons developers and was an expert in developing strategic weapons and rockets used by Hamas terrorists.”
Additionally, the IDF said its troops “identified a terrorist cell that planned to fire anti-tank missiles at the forces… [and] directed an aircraft that struck the cell and killed several terrorists.”
Furthermore, “IDF troops directed an aircraft to a strike on a terrorist cell responsible for launching rockets toward Israel. Several terrorists were killed in the strike.”
Israel said the Hamas attacks on October 7 killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and the militia took more than 240 hostages in one of the deadliest attacks in Israel’s history. Immediately afterwards, Israel commenced air campaigns on Gaza and launched the recent ground offensive which has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Separately, the IDF said on Wednesday it struck Lebanese militia Hezbollah’s “terror targets”. It stated: “In response to the shooting from Lebanon earlier today, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror targets. Among these targets were a weapons compound, launching posts, terror command infrastructure, and several other sites in which Hezbollah’s technological means were located.”
It added: “In addition, earlier today, a terrorist cell that attempted to fire anti-tank missiles from Lebanon to Israel was struck.”