2023-10-30 00:43:00
The Israeli army “bombed 150 underground targets” in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, a military statement announced on Saturday. According to the assessment carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces and Security Agency, two commanders of the Hamas terrorist group were killed during the attacks: Asem Abu Rakaba, head of the air deployment unit, and Ratib Abu Tzahiban, in charge of the naval group. The authorities did not specify the place where they died.
According to Israel, Abu Raqaba he was “responsible for the management of the Hamas organization’s unmanned aerial vehicle systems, drones, aerial detection, paragliders, and air defense.” In addition, he was considered the successor of Murad Abu Murad, also killed in an Israeli attack on October 14.
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“Asem Abou Rakaba participated in the organization of the massacre in the bordering communities of the Gaza Strip on October 7. “He directed the terrorists infiltrated into Israel with paramotors and was responsible for the drone attacks once morest the surveillance posts of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF),” the Israeli armed forces explained in a statement released on Saturday following an intense night. of bombings once morest the Palestinian enclave. Soldiers from his division also killed civilians at the Supernova music festival, where at least 260 people died.
For its part, Abu Tzahiban “planned and commanded the naval infiltration attempt carried out on October 24, which was thwarted by Israeli maritime forces.” The army was referring to last Tuesday’s operation in which it intercepted a cell of Hamas divers seeking to infiltrate Israel by sea to reach the Kibbutz Zikim area, very close to the Gaza Strip.
These are not the first assassinations of Hamas leaders by the Israeli armed forces. In that sense, two days ago they killed in a bombing “number two” of the Intelligence Directorate of the terrorist group, Shadi Barudwhom Israel considered the intellectual co-author of the attacks once morest its territory.
In addition to this, the IDF claimed to have killed three senior commanders of Hamas’ Daraj-Tuffah battalion last Thursday in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip. In this regard, they reported the casualties of the battalion commander, Rifaat Abbas; the deputy commander, Ibrahim Jadbaand a combat support commander, Tarek Maarouf. According to Israeli authorities, the battalion is part of Hamas’ Gaza City Brigade, which is “considered the most significant brigade of the terrorist organization Hamas“.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed that infantry forces, as well as the Corps of Engineers and a still undetermined number of tanks “still remain inside the Gaza Strip at this time”, while what they called continues. an “expanded ground operation and not a full ground offensive”.
“Overnight, Tsahal (Israeli army) fighter jets bombed 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip, including tunnels used by terrorists, underground combat sites and other infrastructure,” the IDF statement said. “Several Hamas terrorists died”he added.
For his part, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced that its forces were going to expand ground operations in the Gaza Strip starting Fridayin parallel to the bombings on the Palestinian enclave that left more than 7,300 dead and almost 19,000 injured
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The Gaza Strip is isolated from the rest of the world since Friday due to telecommunications and Internet interruptions. In this regard, all United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organizations reported that they had lost all contact with their staff in the enclave while the tracking page NetBlocks confirmed the total drop in Internet services for the population.
“Gaza is in a state of blackout right now”The main Gazan telecommunications operator Paltel reported on Saturday, while the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme, the Red Crescent Society and Doctors Without Borders confirmed the impossibility of contacting their teams. in the enclave.
A group of relatives of kidnapped people requested an urgent meeting with Israel
In the midst of this scenario, A group of families of those kidnapped by Hamas requested an urgent meeting with the Minister of DefenseYoav Gallant, and his war cabinet to demand information from the authorities following spending “the worst night of all” in the midst of “total uncertainty” regarding the fate of their loved ones, while the Israeli Army continues its ground raids in the enclave as a prelude to a large-scale entrance.
“We feel anxiety, frustration and, above all, enormous anger because no one from the war cabinet has bothered to meet with the families of the kidnapped people to explain one thing to them: if the ground operation endangers the safety of the 229 hostages in Gaza,” the statement reads.
“Families are worried regarding the fate of their loved ones and are waiting for an explanation. Every minute that passes seems like an eternity“continues the text, collected by the Times of Israel.
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