The IDF confirmed on Thursday that in a joint Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police operation the day prior, the security forces eliminated Farah Hamed, a Hamas military wing terrorist, in a strike in the central Gaza Strip.
Hamed previously served as a senior operative in the “West Bank Headquarters" and took part in combat against IDF troops throughout the war.
As part of his roles and in recent years, Hamed advanced terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. For years, he was part of the “Silwad" cell and carried out several significant terror attacks in the Binyamin area, in which Israeli civilians were killed and others were injured.
The Silwad cell was linked to a series of additional terrorist attacks. In August 2003, its members murdered Shalom Har-Melech, MK Limor Son Har-Melech's husband, in a shooting attack. In November 2002, the cell murdered Esther Galia, and in June 2003, it murdered Zvi (Howard) Goldstein.
Additionally, Hamed took part in the shooting attack in Ein Yabrud in October 2003, in which three IDF soldiers were killed: Sergeant Elad Pollak, Sergeant Roi Yaakov Solomon, and Staff Sergeant Erez Idan.
Hamed was apprehended and released to the Gaza Strip in 2011 as part of the “Shalit prisoner exchange deal." Since then, he continued to operate in Hamas’ military wing and was involved in recruiting and directing the terrorist organization’s operatives to advance attacks in Judea and Samaria.