The Israeli Defense Forces on Saturday claimed senior commander of the Islamic Jihad Rafah Brigade, Aiman Zaarab, was killed during an airstrike in Rafah.
IDF said Zareeb was responsible for the Islamic Jihad Nukhba force’s attack on Kibbutz Sufa and the Sufa military post during the October 7 ‘massacre’.
In an X post, IDF said: “Zaarab was one of the Islamic Jihad Rafah Brigade commanders, responsible for the Islamic Jihad Nukhba force’s attack on Kibbutz Sufa and the Sufa military post during the October 7 massacre.”
IDF said two others terrorists were also killed in the operation.
“Along with Zaarab, two additional Islamic Jihad terrorists who were staying in his operational apartment were eliminated during the strike,” the post said.
UN reacts to Rafah operation
An Israeli military operation in Rafah “could lead to a slaughter” and cripple lifesaving humanitarian work throughout Gaza, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Friday.
Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in and around the Strip’s southernmost city, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists in Geneva.
Echoing those concerns, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that “Band-Aid” contingency plans have been made in case a full-scale military incursion does indeed happen, but they will not be enough to prevent Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe from getting worse.