A senior Hamas official, the man who masterminded the deadly attack on Israel on October 7, has been killed by the Israeli army, a spokesman for the Israeli armed forces announced today.

“A commander of the Nusba unit (special naval forces of Hamas’ military wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam), which carried out the attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip last weekend, was killed in an airstrike,” the spokesman said.

The information about the death of this Palestinian, Ali Qadi, in Gaza, is based on information collected by Israel’s military and internal security service (Shin Bet).

Ali Qadi had been released from prison by Israeli authorities as part of a prisoner exchange agreed for the release of French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The latter was kidnapped on June 25, 2006 by Hamas and released on October 18, 2011, having spent five and a half years in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

A source close to Hamas, interviewed by AFP, declined to comment on the death of the commander known as “Ali al-Qadi” and gave no other information on his fate. According to this source, the 37-year-old al-Qadi is from Ramallah in the West Bank and was deported to Gaza as part of a prisoner exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit. Hamas has confirmed that he is the commander of the “Nusba” unit.