Hamas commander Walid Haniyeh dies after Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Palestinian sources said Friday that Walid Majdi Haniyeh, a senior militant in Hamas’s military wing, died of wounds he suffered in an Israeli Air Force strike the previous night in the al-Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City. Haniyeh was the nephew of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader who was killed in Tehran in July.

According to the reports, Walid Haniyeh had served as a commander in Hamas’s Nukhba units and was known among the group’s operatives by the nickname “al-Lobby.” The strike reportedly cost him a hand and caused severe head bleeding, and those injuries led to his death during the day.

The al-Nasr neighborhood, near the upscale Rimal district, has previously been associated with senior Hamas terror figures. The Israel Defense Forces have not yet officially commented on the identity of the person killed, and the article notes that the military typically waits about 24 hours after a strike before confirming targets, pending checks and identification.

The killing came amid what the report described as a continuing series of IDF actions in Gaza. It was the third strike in the Strip within 24 hours, following an airstrike on a vehicle in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis that killed a militant, and another overnight killing of militants who approached IDF forces near the yellow line in northern Gaza. Southern Command forces remain deployed under the ceasefire agreement but continue targeted operations against immediate threats, including several senior militants killed over the weekend for violating the understandings.