Druze officer slain as IDF kills over 30 terrorists in Rafah, more in Shejaiya

The IDF killed more than 30 terrorists in Rafah over the past 24 hours.

By JNS

Israel Defense Forces Maj. Jalaa Ibrahem, a company commander in the 601st Battalion, 401st Brigade, Combat Engineer Corps, was killed in action in the southern Gaza Strip, the military announced on Sunday.

Ibrahem, 25, from the Druze town of Sajur in the Upper Galilee, was killed by an anti-tank missile in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

The IDF killed more than 30 terrorists in Rafah over the past 24 hours, as Israel’s war against Hamas entered its ninth month. The Israeli Air Force also struck a ready-to-use rocket launcher in the city.

Overnight Saturday, the IDF attacked the Khan Yunis Municipality building in southern Gaza from the air, which the army said was used by Hamas for “military” activity.

The building contained an operational shaft connected to an underground route and was a gathering place for terrorists, the IDF said.

Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force killed a terrorist who had fired a projectile from the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City that struck an open area near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and also hit the structure from which the projectile was fired.

In Shejaiya, Israeli troops killed several terrorists, dismantled terror infrastructure and located weapons, including explosive devices, AK-47 rifles, machine guns and handguns.

Israeli forces have killed more than 100 terrorists since the IDF launched the Shejaiya operation, the second conducted in the neighborhood since the start of the war, about 10 days ago.

Over 1,000 terrorists killed in Rafah

Since the start of the operation in Rafah around one month ago, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 terrorists during battles in the last Hamas stronghold, according to data compiled by the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.

The IDF has also secured the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border and is working to establish a sterile zone and destroy Hamas tunnels and shafts, of which at least 20 have been located along the border zone, along with dozens of ready-to-use launchers.

The two main operations in the Strip currently are in Rafah and Shejaiya, with targeted raids in Khan Younis and other areas as the IDF maintains security control of the Netzarim Corridor dividing the northern from the southern Strip.

In addition to the terrorists killed in Rafah and Shejaiya, tens of thousands of terror targets have been struck from the air.

Hamas chain of command damaged

While Hamas military leaders Yayha Sinwar and Mohammed Deif have evaded Israeli forces, the IDF has carried out targeted killings of other top figures in the terror group, including Marwan Issa and Saleh al-Arouri.

Since the start of fighting, Israeli forces have killed five Hamas brigade commanders, 24 battalion commanders and some 100 company commanders.

Over 9,300 rockets crossed into Israel

While the IDF has significantly degraded Hamas’s rocket-launching abilities, more than 9,300 rockets have crossed into Israeli territory since the start of the war.

There was a sharp increase in rocket fire in May following the start of the Rafah operation. Since the start of 2024, Hamas has fired 1,395 rockets at Israel, according to data from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).