The Israel Defence Forces eliminated a prominent Hamas terrorist responsible for funding operations of the terror group’s “military” wing in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the IDF announced on Thursday.

In December alone, Nasser Yakob Jabber Nasser transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars towards terrorist activities in Rafah, according to the military and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

Following the IDF’s withdrawal of almost all ground forces from Gaza on Sunday, the army has shifted into the targeted raids phase of the war against Hamas, which in recent days saw forces enter the eastern Gaza City neighbourhood of Shejaiya and Nuseirat in the central Strip.

On Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told IDF soldiers that the decision to withdraw troops was made in preparation for the looming offensive in Rafah, where Hamas’s final battalions are concentrated and where the senior leadership and remaining hostages are believed to be.

“The forces came out [of the Gaza Strip] and are preparing for their future missions, we saw examples of such missions in action at Shifa, and also for their future mission in the Rafah area,” Gallant stated.

The IDF revealed on Thursday that “IDF troops conducted precise operational activities in the area of Shejaiya in the northern Gaza Strip. The troops eliminated terrorists and struck terrorist infrastructure.”

Following one of the counterterror raids on a Hamas training base, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft struck and destroyed the facility, the IDF said.

Overnight Wednesday, soldiers launched a targeted operation against Hamas targets in central Gaza’s Nuseirat area. The raid came after intelligence indicated “the presence of terror infrastructure and many terrorists in the area,” the IDF said in a statement.

Arab media reported heavy IAF airstrikes and artillery shelling in Nuseirat before troops moved into the area, which sits adjacent to the Netzarim Corridor that splits the Gazan north from its south and had been left largely untouched by IDF ground troops up until now.

The military said the IAF and artillery units attacked dozens of Hamas targets, including tunnel infrastructure. The Israeli Navy also struck from off the Gaza coast in support of ground troops.

Troops fought with Hamas gunmen during the night, including a terrorist who emerged from a tunnel and was hit with an airstrike, according to the IDF. Soldiers also discovered several rocket launchers in Nuseirat.

On Wednesday, an IAF strike on the Al-Shati Camp on the northern Gaza coast killed six relatives of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

“An Air Force aircraft, acting on intelligence guidance from the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, attacked three military operatives of the Hamas terrorist organisation on their way to carry out terror activities in the central Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a post on X.

The Doha-based terror leader confirmed their deaths, telling Qatar’s Al Jazeera, “I thank God for this honour that he bestowed upon us with the martyrdom of my three sons and some grandchildren.”