IDF eliminates Hamas commander behind Oct 7 invasion of Netiv HaAsara, terrorist killed father in front of sons

The IDF announced the elimination of Ahmad Fawzi Nasser Muhammad Wadiya, the commander of the Nukhba unit responsible for the Oct. 7 invasion of Netiv HaAsara in southern Israel. According to the IDF, Wadiya was killed in an airstrike near the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

Wadiya was notorious for being filmed murdering Gil Taasa in front of his two sons before casually stealing and drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola. The Taasa family was informed of his death.

During the IDF operation, "eight Hamas terrorists from the Daraj Tuffah Battalion were killed, including Ahmad Fawzi Nasser Muhammad Wadiya, the commander of the Nukhba company in the battalion and an active member of the Hamas parachute array. On October 7, Wadiya raided Netiv HaAsara using a paraglider and commanded the massacre in the settlement,” the IDF stated.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו בהכוונת שב״כ ואוגדת עזה, מתחם ששימש מחבלים בארגון הטרור חמאס, בסמוך לבית החולים 'אל-אהלי' בעיר עזה>> pic.twitter.com/eGBVHGX4uy

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 3, 2024

“Prior to the attack, steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of weapons adapted to the type of attack, precise optical intel and additional intelligence information,” the Israeli army emphasized.

Video footage of Wadiya's actions is among the most notorious segments of the IDF's 47-minute film, which documents some of the worst atrocities that Hamas terrorists committed against Israelis on Oct. 7. Many who viewed the film highlighted Wadiya’s crimes as especially shocking and said what they witnessed would stay with them forever.

Home security camera video captured the scene as Taasa and his sons ran into a bomb shelter to hide from the terrorists before Wadiya appeared and lobbed a grenade after them.

Taasa jumped on the grenade to save his sons and was instantly killed. His son Shai lost sight in one eye. As the two sons were trying to come to terms with what had just taken place, and attempting to stench their wounds, Wadiya calmly went over to the family’s refrigerator and drank a bottle of Coca-Cola, seemingly unaffected by the slaughter.

Another one of Taasa's sons, Or, had gone surfing at Zikim beach at the time, and was also murdered by the terrorists.

His wife Sabin, their daughter Zohar and the two sons, Koren and Shai, survived the onslaught.

Upon receiving the news of Wadiya’s death, Sabin told Ynet: “There is no one happier than me on this day. But as Koren, my sweet son who bravely stood against evil, told me – until we see a picture of him dead, we will not be able to feel that we have closed the circle.”

“We came out of the shelter and saw two terrorists standing in front of us,” Koren had told media later.

“I tried to open Google Translate to tell the terrorist that I wanted to return to my mother, but he closed it, went on Facebook and started recording my father. Then he slapped me on the back of my neck and I said ‘help, help’ in English, so that he would leave me and let me go - Shai just stared at father.”

Ultimately, the two boys took advantage of a moment when the terrorists were distracted to escape to the nearby house of their mother.

“I heard my sons calling me from outside, and I quickly brought them into the house,” Sabin told Ynet. “They informed me that their father was murdered in front of their eyes.”