Nukhba (Hamas unit)

Nukhba (نخبة), 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. 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 US$400–500 a month is over five times the average salary in the Gaza Strip.

Organization
The Nukhba are distributed geographically across the Gaza Strip.

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 militants 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 invaded Israel, killing more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

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.

Naval commandos landed boats on Zikim Beach and stormed the IDF's Zikim training base.

Post 7 October attack
According to an IDF spokesman, the Israeli air force have been specifically targeting Nukhba. Shin Bet set up a new unit called Nili an abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase Netzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker   tasked with hunting down Nukhba members.

According to the IDF, on October 17, Hamas' fourth most senior commander Ayman Nofal who had responsibility for the Nukhba and the Be'eri and Re'im music festival massacres was killed in an airstrike.

According to footage the Israeli security services released of interrogation of purportedly captured Nukhba members, 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.