The Israeli army announced this Saturday that a strike with a fighter jet led to the death of the head of Hamas’s air command, Ezzam Abu Raffa, who participated in planning the October 7 attack.
“Abu Raffa was responsible for managing the unmanned aerial vehicle, drones, aerial detection, paragliders and air defense systems” of the Palestinian Islamist movement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated.
During the night, IDF fighter jets attacked Asem Abu Rakaba, the head of the Hamas air force.
Abu Rakaba was responsible for Hamas’ unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and defense.
He participated in the planning of the October 7 massacre and commanded the terrorists who infiltrated…
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 28, 2023
“As part of his position, he participated in the planning and execution of the murderous massacre in the settlements around Gaza on October 7,” the army added on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
In another statement, the IDF said on Saturday that it had struck around 150 underground targets in Gaza, including tunnels and underground combat posts, resulting in the deaths of several Hamas members.
“Overnight, IDF fighter jets struck 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip, including tunnels used by terrorists, underground combat sites and other underground infrastructure. Hamas terrorists were killed,” the military said .
The IDF had announced on Friday that it would expand ground operations in the Gaza Strip, in parallel to the bombings that have hit the enclave since October 7.
Hamas reported Friday that it was engaged in “violent fighting” in the Gaza Strip with Israeli forces, who reportedly carried out ground incursions into two sectors of the territory.
“We are facing Israeli incursions in Beit Hanoun (north) and Boureij (center) and there is violent fighting,” Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam brigades, said in a statement.
Also on Friday, in New York, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly approved, with 120 votes in favor, a resolution calling for an “immediate, lasting and sustained humanitarian truce” in Gaza and the end of Israel’s order to move the population to the south of the enclave.
Following the Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel, which left more than 1,400 dead, some 5,000 injured and 224 hostages, Israeli bombings on Gaza have since left more than 7,300 dead and some 19,000 injured in Palestinian territory.
Source: TSF
