The Israeli military confirmed that Wael Abu-Fanounah, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was killed in an airstrike in southern Gaza. Abu-Fanounah served as the Deputy Head of Islamic Jihad’s psychological warfare operations and held other positions within the group, including being an assistant to Khalil Bahtini, the Islamic Jihad’s Commander of Gaza’s northern region.
He was responsible for producing videos of rocket attacks and distributing documentation of Israeli hostages as part of the group’s psychological warfare. Abu-Fanounah was released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap of 2011.
Additionally, Israel conducted operations in central and northern Gaza, seizing weaponry and engaging and killing armed terrorists. The ongoing conflict has resulted in casualties, with at least 1,200 people killed in Hamas attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7.
The number of captives held by Hamas is reported to be 136, with efforts ongoing to identify bodies and locate missing individuals.