Nukhba (Hamas)

Nukhba (Hamas)
Nukhba, Nukhba Force or Al-Nukhba are naval commandos in a special forces unit of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Israel claims the unit led the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 at the beginning of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), "[t]he Nukhba elite forces consist of terrorists selected by senior Hamas operatives, designated to carry out terrorist attacks such as ambushes, raids, assaults, infiltration through terror tunnels, as well as anti-tank missile, rocket, and sniper fire."
Their main focus is to attack on or underwater, and to infiltrate Israel via its beaches, using underwater explosives and guided missiles which are unaffected by the Iron Dome air defense system. Targets include Israeli infrastructure at sea, military and civilian vessels and power stations.
Training
Nukhba members begin their long and rigorous land and sea-based training when they are 18 to 20 years old, and may be recruited from fishermen. The starting salary of a month is over five times the average salary in the Gaza Strip.
Organization
The Nukhba are distributed geographically across the Gaza Strip.
While the unit is secretive, they use social media for propaganda, such as posting videos on the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' Telegram channel.
History
Hamas formed its naval unit in about 2010 after the Gaza War (2008–2009) to strengthen its efforts against Israel and help smuggle weapons into Gaza by sea. In July 2014, four divers emerged from the sea on Zikim Beach armed with grenades and automatic weapons to mount an attack on a tank, but were killed by the IDF.
Their units sustained losses in the 2014 Gaza War. In 2015, they were being trained and equipped in Iran. In 2017, some of its members left to join Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula. In October 2017, Nukhba commandos were amongst the 14 terrorists killed when one of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's tunnels collapsed. By 2018, the underwater commando unit had around 1,500 members. In January 2022, Nukhba divers claimed they had been attacked by a military dolphin which Israel was using to counter their operations.
2023 Israel–Hamas war
On October 7, Hamas forces launched an indiscriminate attack on Israeli civilians, killing more than 1,300 men, women and children.
According to Israel's security service Shin Bet, captured Nukhba members were ordered to kill everyone they saw and carry out atrocities against civilians including women and children. If they brought hostages back to Gaza they would be richly rewarded. In a video recording of interviews with captured Nukhba, they described how they set fire to houses and threw grenades. One of the men killed had been watering his plants before the terrorists surprised him. The prisoners of war identified themselves as Muslim and admitted that the murders were contrary to Islam.
In the Battle of Zikim, naval commandos landed boats on Zikim Beach and stormed the Bahad 4 military base.
Aftermath
In the aftermath, IDF warplanes have been specifically targeting Nukhba, with the intention of killing them all. Shin Bet set up a new unit called Nili an abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase tasked with hunting down Nukhba members.
On October 14, the IDF announced that they had killed Ali Qadhi, a Nukhba company commander, in a drone attack. In 2005, Israel had arrested him for kidnapping and murdering civilians, but he was released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. Bilal al Qadr, a commander of the Nukhba forces' southern Khan Yunis unit that carried out the Kfar Aza massacre, was killed by an Israeli Air Force air strike. According to the IDF, both men had played key roles in the October 7 attack. On October 17, Hamas' fourth most senior commander Ayman Nofal who had responsbility for the Nukhba and the Be'eri and Re'im music festival massacres was killed in an airstrike.
Following the attack, Nukhba members Amer Abu Awash and Hassan Zaarab were detained and interrogated by Israeli authorities. During the interrogation, according to the IDF, Abu Awash revealed that Hamas has been using medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, especially the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, to shield themselves from Israeli strikes and that the underground levels of the hospital are utilized for hiding resources like weapons and ammunition. Hamas denied these claims.
See also
Redwan Force
Shayetet 13, Israeli Navy special forces unit
Syrian Elite Forces
References
Commando units and formations
Naval special forces units and formations
Hamas
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Palestinian nationalism