Hassan Ali Abu Nada and Abd al-Rahim Ahmad Khalil Khawa died when an Israeli aircraft targeted a car in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood on Sunday. The military identified the men as members of the Hamas engineering unit who were developing weapons and planning attacks on Israeli civilians. The Israeli Defense Forces reported taking precautions to limit civilian casualties, though the attack wounded 13 people.

The operation occurred under a truce established in October 2025, during which more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and 4,600 wounded in the enclave. Witnesses at the scene displayed household items recovered from the vehicle to dispute the target identification. The IDF maintains that the operatives were working in systematic violation of the ceasefire to restore Hamas capabilities.