Israel Military Says Hamas Rocket Platoon Commander Killed in Gaza Airstrike

Gazans look at debris following an Israeli military strike near the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 13, 2024. Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sept. 8 that it killed a Hamas rocket-launching platoon commander in a military airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip last week.

The commander, Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab of the Hamas eastern Khan Yunis battalion, was killed by Israel’s air force during an operation in the area, The IDF announced in a statement.

According to the Israeli military, Shab had been responsible for the rocket barrages launched from the Khan Yunis area toward southern and central Israel since the war erupted last year.

There has been no independent confirmation of Shab’s death, and it remains unclear whether there were additional casualties resulting from the attack.

Footage released by the IDF shows Hamas rocket launch pits and terrorist infrastructure being struck, resulting in explosions and smoke rising from the site.

The IDF said that its air force had struck about 25 Hamas terrorist targets in Gaza the previous day, including terrorist cells, military structures, and terrorist infrastructure.

Separately, on Sept. 7, the IDF said that two Islamic Jihad battalion commanders were killed in a “precise” airstrike targeting a command and control center used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Deir al-Balah.

The two commanders were identified as Abdallah Khatib and Hatem Abu Aljidian. The IDF said Khatib led the battalion’s terrorist activity during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, while Aljidian was in charge of carrying out attacks against IDF troops throughout the war.

The IDF said that “numerous steps” had been taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians in the area before launching the strike, such as using precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.

Israel launched its military operation in Gaza after Hamas terrorists carried out widespread attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 1,100 people were killed and 250 taken hostage during the attack. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health department has said that Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza has led to more than 40,000 deaths.

The Israeli military said 101 hostages still remain in Gaza. The IDF has said that its military operation in the territory will “not stop until every hostage is brought home.”

Protests erupted in the streets of Israel in the aftermath of six hostages’ deaths. The IDF said the hostages were “brutally murdered” by their captors shortly before their bodies were found in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of Gaza on Aug. 31.

Demonstrators were blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for failing to secure a hostage deal. Israeli leadership has faced mounting calls to accept a deal for months, although extended negotiations between Israel and Hamas have not brought results.

Joseph Lord contributed to this report.