Gaza, Jul 13 (IANS): A senior Hamas commander involved in masterminding the October 7 attack against Israel was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The IDF said on Friday in a statement that the slain, named Ayman Showadeh, was a deputy commander of Hamas' Shejaiya Battalion in the current conflict and formerly a key operative in Hamas' operations headquarters.

Showadeh had directed numerous attacks against IDF troops, according to the statement.

The IDF claimed that this man was among more than 150 "terrorists" eliminated in recent IDF operations in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of the city, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Israeli military has targeted Shejaiya for about two weeks in the name of eliminating active "terrorists" and their infrastructure.

On Wednesday, the military announced that it had completed the mission in Shejaiya.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas attack through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.