IDF says key Hamas operative killed in Gaza, following crippling strike on Hezbollah

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) embroiled in a two-front war with Iranian-backed terror groups, said early Saturday it has killed a key Hamas operative just hours after it took out a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

The Jewish state's military announced the death of Muhammad Mansour, who it described as a source of technological knowledge in Hamas' military intelligence system. Several Hamas terrorists who led terror attacks against IDF soldiers were also killed, the IDF said.

The IDF said it continues to eliminate terrorists and strike dozens of terror infrastructure sites in the central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.

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IDF troops are conducting "precise, intelligence-based operational activity" in southern Gaza, the IDF said.

Over the past day, troops discovered weaponry, killed armed terrorists and dismantled a large amount of terror infrastructure in southern Gaza, according to the IDF.

Troops are also continuing operations in central Gaza, the IDF said.

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The troops killed several terrorists and directed an Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft to dismantle Hamas terror infrastructure in central Gaza. 

The IAF struck roughly 20 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including terror infrastructure sites, military structures and terrorist cells, according to the IDF.

The developments in Gaza, in the nation's southern region, followed word that the IDF had killed key Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil, a senior member of Hezbollah, on Friday. That strike came after a suspected Israeli intelligence operation killed or wounded thousands of Hezbollah operatives by rigging electronic devices to explode.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Aqil, a highly ranked commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces, and several key operatives "were gathered underground under a residential building in the heart of the Dahiyah neighbourhood [in southern Beirut], hiding among Lebanese civilians, using them as human shields."

Hagari added that Aqil and the others were "planning Hezbollah’s 'Conquer the Galilee' attack plan, in which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians".