IDF eliminates three senior Hamas officers in Rafah - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

The strike comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF to begin preparations to enter Rafah.

 

Three senior members of the Hamas police in Rafah were killed as a result of an attack on their vehicle in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah, according to Israeli media reports from Saturday afternoon.

Those killed are the director of investigations Ahmed Eliakubi, his deputy Iman Rantisi, and Ibrahim Shatt. Eliakubi was responsible for the security provisions for senior Hamas leaders and served as a senior commander in the Rafah district.

The strike comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF to begin preparations to enter Rafah.

Netanyahu ordered the IDF to begin planning to evacuate civilians from Rafah into areas of Gaza cleared of Hamas units.

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)

Impossible to leave Hamas in Rafah

"It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war without eliminating Hamas, and by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah," the statement noted.

"On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat."

Netanyahu was criticized for the plan by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN, " [Israel] taking this step threatens security and peace in the region and the world. It crosses all red lines."

"We're extremely worried about the fate of civilians in Rafah," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-786183

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