IDF Eliminates Senior Hamas Commander Released in Shalit Deal
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a targeted strike in western Gaza City earlier today, eliminating Farach Hamed, a senior commander in Hamas's military wing. Hamed, 43, was reportedly killed in a motorcycle strike on Al-Rashid Street. He was a leader of the Salwad cell, responsible for several deadly attacks, including the 2003 murder of Shalom Har-Melech, husband of Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech, and the killings of Esther Galla in 2002 and Zvi Goldstein in 2003. Hamed was arrested in 2004 and sentenced to three life terms for his role in a 2002 attack near Ein Yabrud village that killed three soldiers from the Duchifat unit: Sergeant Major Erez Idan, Sergeant Elad Pollak, and Sergeant Roi Yaakov Salomon. A fourth soldier was wounded in that attack.
Hamed was among the Palestinian prisoners released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, after which he was exiled to the Gaza Strip. Upon his arrival in Gaza, he became a leading figure in Hamas's West Bank headquarters, directing attacks in the West Bank from within the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources reported the strike.
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