From the Liveblog of
Friday, June 7, 2024
IDF: Senior member of Hamas’s general security forces in Rafah killed in airstrike
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A senior member of Hamas’s general security forces in southern Gaza’s Rafah was killed in an airstrike yesterday, the military announces.
Salame Muhammad Abu Ajaj, according to the IDF, was one of the commanders of the general security forces in Rafah. He was killed in a fighter jet strike, it says.
The IDF says the general security forces is a Hamas body that supports the military wing of the terror group, and is tasked with several roles to “ensure the survival of the group, [continue] routine Hamas military activity and disrupt the IDF’s freedom of action in the Strip.”
Alongside Abu Ajaj, the mayor of Nuseirat, Eyad al-Maghari, was also killed in the strike.
The IDF says al-Maghari was a terrorist with “an extensive history in Hamas.”
It says he previously served in Hamas’s so-called West Bank headquarters, a unit involved in advancing attacks against Israel from or within the West Bank.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas following the October 7 onslaught, including its civil authority and members of its political wing.
