The IDF on Tuesday morning eliminated two senior terror commanders in a drone strike in Tulkarm as well as several other terrorists, including an armed female terrorist disguised as a paramedic.

The eliminated commanders were Ashraf Nafa, Hamas’ military wing commander in Tulkarm, and Muhammad Abu Abdu, commander of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The Shin Bet and IDF have been targeting the two commanders for months.

The IDF said that Nafa was “responsible for manufacturing and embedding explosives to harm IDF soldiers as well as recruiting new operatives into the Hamas organization. Additionally, he was involved in numerous attacks against IDF soldiers in Yehuda and Shomron and was in contact with  Hamas terrorists abroad who advanced terror attacks in the area.”

The IDF said that Muhammad Abud Abdu (also known as Muhammad Awad) was “actively involved in shooting attacks against IDF soldiers and raised terror funds and procured weapons for the Tulkarm terror battalion.”

According to Israeli media reports, the IDF used various ruses to bring the terrorists to the area minutes before the drone attacked them. Regarding the female terrorist disguised as a paramedic, the IDF said such cases are rare although they have seen similar cases in the past.

Fierce gun battles took place between IDF forces and local terrorists that continued for hours after the drone strike.

In recent months, the IDF has targeted Palestinian “refugee camps” in Shomron in over 50 counterterrorism operations. The operation in Tulkarm on Tuesday began with the destruction of numerous explosives embedded under the roads leading into the city.

The operation, in which many senior Hamas terrorists in Yehudah and Shomron were killed, follows increased pressure by Hamas leaders in Gaza and abroad on Hamas leadership in the Shomron to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in the area.

The armed female terrorist disguised as a paramedic can be seen at the end of the video below:

The videos below show the terrorists minutes before their elimination:

The video below shows an IDF bulldozer evacuating the bodies of the terror commanders to Israeli territory:

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)