Israel eliminates Hamas operative behind 2004 Beersheva bus bombings VIDEO

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the killing of Bassel Hashem Abd al-Fatah al-Haymuni, the Hamas terrorist responsible for the 2004 Beersheva bus bombings in which 16 Israeli civilians were murdered.

Al-Haymuni, a native of Hebron, was previously arrested following the attack but was later released and deported to the Gaza Strip as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. According to the IDF, he was killed in an airstrike carried out in Gaza last week.

“In August 2004, al-Haymuni sent several suicide bombers to carry out a double attack on two buses in Beersheva, in which 16 Israeli civilians were murdered and about 100 others were injured,” the army stated.

Following his release in 2011, al-Haymuni “returned to recruiting terrorists and directing terror activity,” the military said, adding that he “was involved during the war in manufacturing and planting explosives to harm our soldiers.” The statement described his killing as “an important and valuable closing of a circle.”

Earlier, the military announced that Israeli forces had also eliminated Ahmad Hasan, a Hamas commander and head of a sniper unit in the group’s Beit Hanoun Battalion, who had participated in numerous attacks against Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip.

According to the IDF, Hasan’s killing followed what it described as a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement” on February 9, when Hamas gunmen emerged from a tunnel in eastern Rafah and opened fire on Israeli forces. No Israeli casualties were reported in that incident, during which troops killed four Palestinian gunmen who had attacked them.

Israeli forces subsequently conducted additional strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza on February 10 in response to the Rafah incident.

The military said Hasan had coordinated several deadly assaults against IDF soldiers in northern Gaza during 2025 and was planning further attacks prior to being targeted. The IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) stated that he had led operations resulting in the deaths of six Israeli soldiers and injuries to several others in separate incidents in April and July 2025.

“The IDF will continue to operate against any attempt by the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out terror attacks against the IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the military said.

By Vafa Guliyeva