From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 14, 2024
Israel confirms killing Hamas commander of Khan Younis Brigade in Gaza strike yesterday
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF and Shin Bet in a joint statement officially confirm that Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, was killed in yesterday’s strike in the southern Gaza Strip.
The IDF says Salameh was “one of the closest associates” of Muhammad Deif, the chief of the terror group’s military wing, and “was one of the masterminds of the October 7 massacre.”
His killing is a “significant blow to the military capabilities of Hamas,” the IDF says.
Deif was also at the targeted site, although the IDF has yet to receive final confirmation he was killed in the attack.
Salameh, according to the IDF, joined Hamas in the early 1990s, and was later appointed to command the Khan Younis Brigade’s al-Qarara Battalion.
The IDF says he “played a significant role” in the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shilat in 2006, and in the 2014 war, was in command of Hamas’s “combat support and defensive plans.”
In 2016 he replaced Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of the Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, as the head of the Khan Younis Brigade, according to the military.
In addition to numerous rocket attacks on Israel, he was also in command of two attack tunnels that were struck during the May 2021 war, the IDF adds.
