Ahmed Wadia was killed in an airstrike on a Hamas compound in Gaza City, according to the military.
(September 3, 2024 / JNS) Israeli forces in Gaza have killed the Hamas terrorist who led the Oct. 7 assault on the northwest Negev moshav of Netiv Ha’asara, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said on Tuesday.
Israeli fighter jets struck a Hamas compound near the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing eight terrorists from Hamas’s Daraj Tuffah Battalion, according to the joint statement. Among those killed was Ahmed Fozi Nazer Muhammad Wadia, a member of the terror group’s Nukhba force who led the invasion of Netiv Ha’asara, located directly adjacent to the Gaza fence.
Another terrorist killed in the strike was “responsible for several combat specialties in the Daraj Tuffah Battalion, including engineering, sniping and anti-tank operations, and was responsible for supplying the explosives used to blow up the security fence in the Daraj Tuffah Battalion’s area during the Oct. 7 massacre,” according to the IDF.
On Oct. 7, Wadia, who was active in Hamas’ parachute array, infiltrated the moshav using a paraglider and oversaw the massacre of 21 residents and the kidnapping of one to Gaza.
One of those murdered in the moshav that day was Gil Taasa, 46, a senior firefighter in the Ashkelon fire station. On the morning of Oct. 7, Taasa was at home with his two youngest sons, Koren, 12 and Shay, 8. After he ran out of ammunition, the terrorists threw a grenade into the shelter where they were hiding. Taasa leapt on the grenade to save his sons, who were wounded but survived.
Wadia was captured on video opening the door of the family’s refrigerator and sipping a Coke in front of the bleeding children before leaving the home. Koren and Shay then ran next door to their mother’s home and hid in the safe room for hours before being evacuated.
Taasa’s oldest son, Or, 17, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at Zikim Beach, where he had gone early in the morning to surf with friends.
“My sons are happy and that’s the most important thing,” said Gil’s widow, Sabin Tassa, after receiving the news of Wadia’s death, according to Channel 12. “My son Koren told me he wanted to see a picture of [Wadia] dead. I personally will close the circle only after I know that all Hamas members and [Hamas leader in Gaza Yayha] Sinwar have been eliminated,” she added.