Israel Confirms Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade Commander Killed in Gaza Attack

JAKARTA - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet confirmed in a joint statement Sunday that an airstrike on the Gaza Strip the day before killed Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade Commander Rafa'a Salameh.

The IDF said Salameh was "one of the closest associates" of Muhammad Deif, the head of the Hamas militant group's military wing, "who was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attacks."

His killing was a “major blow to Hamas’ military capabilities,” the IDF said, according to The Times of Israel.

Deif was also at the targeted location, although the IDF has not received final confirmation that he was killed in the strike.

Salameh, according to the IDF, joined Hamas in the early 1990s, before being appointed to lead the Khan Younis Brigade’s al-Qarara Battalion.

The IDF said he “played a key role” in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shilat in 2006. In the 2014 war, he was said to have led Hamas’ “combat support and defense planning.”

In 2016, he replaced Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, as head of the Khan Younis Brigade, according to the military.

In addition to the rocket attacks on Israel, he also led two attack tunnels that were hit during the May 2021 war, the IDF added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously reiterated that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip were not will end until all Hamas armed units are completely eliminated, following an airstrike carried out on Saturday targeting the group's military wing commander, TASS reported.

Netanyahu's remarks were in reference to an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip aimed at eliminating Hamas' military wing chief, Mohammed Deif.

The Gaza health ministry said at least 90 Palestinians were killed in Gaza's designated humanitarian zone as a result of an Israeli airstrike on Saturday.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said it was still unclear whether Deif and other Hamas commanders had been killed in the strike, vowing to continue targeting Hamas' leadership, saying more military pressure on the group would increase the chances of a hostage deal.

"In any case, we will get to the entire Hamas leadership," he said, as quoted by Reuters.

The Islamic militant group Hamas denied that Deif had been killed, according to a senior Hamas official on Al Jazeera TV.

Hamas has previously said Israel's claims it had targeted the group's leaders were false and aimed at justifying the strike, which was Israel's deadliest on Gaza in weeks.