The Media Line: Hamas Commander Who Held 7 Israeli Hostages, Finance Chief Eliminated  

Hamas Commander Who Held 7 Israeli Hostages, Finance Chief Eliminated  

By The Media Line Staff  

Israeli forces eliminated Mahmoud Abd al-Fattah Awad, a commander in Hamas’ military wing who participated in holding seven Israeli hostages underground in the Gaza City area and had recently worked to advance attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported.  

Awad took part in holding Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran and Eitan Mor hostage in an underground tunnel in the Gaza City area.  

More recently, Awad was involved in planning and advancing terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians and IDF troops. He also worked to restore Hamas’ capabilities in what the IDF described as systematic violations of the ceasefire.  

Awad was eliminated to remove the threat he posed.  

Muhammad Abu Alwan, the head of Hamas’ Finance Department, was also eliminated. In that position, Abu Alwan was responsible for financial activity spanning all of the terrorist organization’s branches.  

His work included directing the transfer of more than 1 billion NIS to finance Hamas’ terrorist activities. His role in allocating funding across the organization made him a key figure in sustaining Hamas’ operations and its continued rule.  

Abu Alwan had also recently been involved in efforts to rebuild Hamas’ capabilities in systematic violation of the ceasefire.