The IDF and Shin Bet announced the killing of Muhammad Abu Attawi, a commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip. Attawi was reportedly responsible for the deadly October 7 assault near Kibbutz Re’im, where Nova music festival-goers who had taken shelter from attacks were targeted, leaving multiple casualties and taking numerous hostages. Attawi, who held a position in Hamas’s Bureij Battalion, had allegedly been employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) since July 2022. The IDF says he commanded the assault on a roadside bomb shelter, where many had fled from the Nova festival. During the attack, four people, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were kidnapped, 16 were killed, and seven managed to survive before being rescued. The IDF also reports that Attawi engaged in recent attacks against Israeli forces in Gaza. Following his identification as an UNRWA employee, COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) representatives have called for an international and UN inquiry into any potential involvement of UNRWA personnel in the October 7 attacks and other hostile activities against Israel. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)