IDF Resumes Gaza Airstrikes After Weeklong Pause, Kills Operative as October 7 Manhunt Approval Rules Tighten

The IDF carried out its first Gaza airstrike in more than a week on August 12, 2026, killing a Hamas operative in Khan Younis whom the military said was 'advancing terrorist plots' against Israeli forces. The strike came days after reports that the joint IDF-Shin Bet 'Nili' manhunt for October 7, 2023 perpetrators had been paused amid US-backed Board of Peace disarmament talks, and after Israeli security sources said approval for targeted-elimination strikes had been tightened to require sign-off from IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. The IDF denied its operational rules for pursuing October 7 participants had changed. Separately, officials noted that most of the roughly 1,700 Palestinian bodies Israel is holding — reported days earlier as a potential bargaining chip in future negotiations — belong to Palestinians who took part in the October 7 attack.