Both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas said a top leader of the terrorist organization was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

“We just eliminated Ayman Nofal, a senior Hamas operative,” the IDF stated on Tuesday. “Nofal was the Commander of Hamas’ Central Brigade in Gaza and the former Head of Military Intelligence.  Nofal directed many attacks against Israeli civilians…[and was] one of the most dominant figures in the terrorist organization.”

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, on Tuesday confirmed Nofal was killed in the airstrike, saying it happened on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Nofal led Hamas’ militant activities in the central Gaza Strip and was associated with the group’s “joint operations” room that coordinated between Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militants in the territory.

According to the IDF, Nofal was involved in the planning of the abduction of Gilad Shalit, a former IDF soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas in 2006 and not returned to Israel until 2011.

“We won’t stop until we eliminate Hamas,” the IDF vowed on social media.

The airstrike that killed Nofal came as Israel bombed parts of southern Gaza on Tuesday ahead of an expected ground invasion. Dozens of people outside the southern Gazan cities of Rafah and Khan Younis were reported hospitalized, while senior Hamas official Basem Naim said 57 people had been killed in those two cities.

PHOTO: Video of airstrike that killed Hamas leader Nofal, per IDF

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