The IDF and Shin Bet domestic security agency said Saturday that a senior Hamas operative eliminated in an airstrike earlier this week had directed a deadly terror attack on Israelis in 1995.
The joint statement named the operative as Muhammad Khuli, head of operations in Hamas’ Central Camps Brigade, who was killed at his home in Rafah alongside his wife and daughter.
Israeli airstrike on Hamas operatives in Rafah, Gaza
(Video: IDF)
Intelligence said Khuli orchestrated the February 6, 1995, attack at the Nahal Oz border crossing, in which 31-year-old Ashkelon resident Yevgeny Gromov was killed. According to the statement, Khuli also played a key role in Hamas’ preparations for the October 7 massacre.
The 1995 attack occurred when two fuel tankers, accompanied by both Palestinian and Israeli security vehicles, entered Gaza from the Nahal Oz crossing. As the convoy neared the Shijaiyah junction, gunmen opened fire on the Israeli escort vehicle and fled. Gromov, a security guard and immigrant from Russia, was struck by gunfire but managed to return fire and drive the attackers away before succumbing to his wounds.
Gromov had moved to Israel in 1993 with his wife Galina and son, also named Yevgeny. A former soldier and avid reader with a passion for history and languages, Gromov was described as a dedicated family man. In Israel, he worked as a security guard protecting Israeli vehicles operating in the Palestinian territories.
The strike that killed Khuli comes days after six armed terrorists were spotted near IDF troops in western Rafah. Israeli tanks responded with shell fire, followed by airstrikes. Two soldiers were lightly wounded by shrapnel during the operation, which resulted in the deaths of all six terrorists.
In the days that followed, Israel conducted a series of strikes targeting operatives from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Among those killed were Ashraf al-Khatib, commander of the PIJ’s rocket and missile array in the Central Camps Brigade, and Saeed al-Rahman, a Hamas sniper leader in Deir al-Balah. In another strike, two Hamas operatives working to rebuild the terrorist group’s infrastructure were also eliminated.
“The elimination of the terrorists significantly degrades Hamas’ capabilities in the Gaza Strip to plan attacks and harm IDF troops deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF and Shin Bet said in their statement. “The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to operate against any attempt by terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.”