JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it killed a Hamas commander involved in holding Israeli hostages, and a second Hamas operative, in separate airstrikes in the Gaza City area this week.

The military said Muhammad Muhsen Nimr Yazji, a commander in the Shati Battalion of Hamas’ military wing, was killed Monday in a strike in the Gaza City area. The IDF said Yazji took part throughout the war in holding hostages in the Gaza City Brigade sector, including Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Matan Angrest.

In a second strike Tuesday in the Sabra neighborhood, the military said it killed Muhammad Fawzi Muhammad Awad Gamal, an operative in Hamas’ Daraj Tuffah Battalion.

The IDF said both men had recently moved to carry out attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and had worked to rebuild the group’s capabilities, which the military described as a systematic violation of the ceasefire. They were targeted from the air to remove the threat they posed, the statement said.

The military said it took steps before the strikes to limit harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance. It said forces under the Southern Command remain deployed in line with the agreement and will keep acting against immediate threats.

Damari, Gonen and Angrest were among the hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and were later released. The IDF did not say whether Hamas had confirmed the deaths. The claims could not be independently verified.