IDF says it killed Hamas terrorist who took part in Oct. 7, planned future attacks

A Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in an airstrike this week, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday.

Akram Abu Madi, a member of Hamas’s military wing, recently acted to restore the terror group’s capabilities and advance attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, the military said.

He was therefore targeted in a strike on Sunday in southern Gaza, according to the IDF.

The army also publishes a photo of Abu Madi during the October 7 onslaught.

The IDF in recent months has been ramping up strikes on terror operatives in Gaza, including several October 7 terrorists, saying they posed a threat to Israeli forces.

Also on Wednesday, an unarmed suspected Hamas operative was detained by Israeli soldiers after approaching the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said.

לאחר שניסה לשקם את ארגון הטרור חמאס: חיל-האוויר חיסל מחבל שפשט לשטח מדינת ישראל בטבח ה-7 באוקטובר

חיל-האוויר תקף בדרום רצועת עזה מוקדם יותר השבוע, וחיסל את אכרם מחמד מחמוד אבו מאצ'י, מחבל בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס.

אבו מאצ'י פשט לשטח מדינת ישראל בטבח ה-7 באוקטובר.… pic.twitter.com/2bEkV3ZWjk

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 24, 2026

Troops were dispatched to the area “following suspicion of the presence of a Hamas terrorist on the Gaza side of the crossing,” the IDF said. The soldiers detained the suspect and took him for further questioning.

“The details and identity of the suspect are currently under review,” the army said, and emphasized “that there was no infiltration into Israeli territory” during the incident.

Additionally, overnight, the IDF struck four rocket launchers across the Gaza Strip that were installed by terror groups during the ceasefire, the military said.

“The launch posts that were destroyed were set up by the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip in the recent period, after the ceasefire came into effect,” the military stated, adding that they were armed for attacks on IDF troops and Israel, “and therefore posed an immediate threat.”

חיל-האוויר תקף והשמיד במהלך הלילה ארבע עמדות שיגור במספר מרחבים ברצועת עזה.

עמדות השיגור שהושמדו, הוקמו על ידי ארגוני הטרור ברצועה בתקופה האחרונה, לאחר כניסת הפסקת האש לתוקף.

עמדות השיגור היו מוכנות לשיגור לעבר כוחות צה"ל ואזרחי מדינת ישראל, ועל כן היוו איום מיידי.

כוחות צה"ל… pic.twitter.com/hZLKCB24t8

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 24, 2026

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on October 10 last year, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The IDF has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.

Hamas official: Israeli demands sent negotiations back to square one

Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said in an interview Wednesday that Israel has sent negotiations over the future of Gaza back to square one through its demands regarding the continuation of the ceasefire and advancing to the second phase under Trump’s plan.

According to al-Nunu, Israel is unwilling to commit to implementing all the provisions of the first phase of the ceasefire — including, he said, allowing sufficient aid into Gaza — and seeks to dismantle the “Palestinian factions” (the terrorist organizations in the Strip, led by Hamas).

He also said that, according to a draft proposal submitted by Israel via the Board of Peace, Jerusalem wants the future government of the Gaza Strip to “promote an Israeli agenda.”

In an interview on Tuesday with Hamas’s Al-Aqsa channel, al-Nunu said that since April 14, Hamas has received three different proposals from US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace regarding the continuation of the ceasefire, and that the latest proposal, received on June 12, was completely different from previous understandings.

The comments came as members of the Board of Peace are set to convene in Cyprus next week, seeking to recalibrate after showing little success in the first six months of the Board’s existence.

Trump’s plan for Gaza, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, led to the establishment of a ceasefire that took effect in October, halting the fighting that began on October 7, 2023.

In mid-January, Washington announced the launch of the second phase of Trump’s plan for Gaza aimed at bringing a definitive end to the war triggered by the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel. However, little tangible progress has been made in actually implementing the phase and deploying the planned International Stabilization Force to Gaza.

The second phase provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of the ISF, a project that has been the subject of repeated announcements and discussions but has yet to materialize.

In late February, Hamas said it was open to the presence of such a force in the Gaza Strip, provided it did not interfere in the territory’s internal affairs. Furthermore, the terror group has so far refused to disarm.

Israel now says it controls at least 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, compared with just over half following its pullback on the first day of the truce. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month he had ordered the military to seize 70 percent of the territory.

Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violating the ceasefire amid stalled efforts toward a lasting end to the war.

AFP contributed to this report.