The Israeli army announces the liquidation of a prominent commander in the al Qassam Brigades and confirms the attack on 150 underground targets in the Gaza Strip
The Israeli army announced, on Saturday, that they managed to kill Issam Abu Rakba, the commander of the Air Force of al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas Movement.
The Israeli army said in a statement on X, “Last night, the IDF and Shin Bet were able to eliminate the head of the Hamas air force, called Issam Abu Rakba”.
According to the statement, “Abu Rukba was responsible for managing the ranks of Hamas’ drones, aerial reconnaissance, gliders, and air defense”.
The statement said, “Abu Rakba participated in planning and carrying out the sudden deadly attack on the settlements surrounding Gaza on October 7, by directing terrorists who infiltrated by parachutes into the Gaza perimeter territory and by leading drone attacks towards Israeli army positions adjacent to the Gaza border”.
The Israeli army also announced on Saturday that it struck 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday night.
A statement published after a night of heavy Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip said, “During the night, Israeli warplanes struck 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip, including tunnels used by militants, underground fighting sites, and other facilities,” adding that, “Several Hamas members were killed”.
For its part, Hamas said that its fighters in Gaza are ready to confront Israel’s attacks with full force after the Israeli army expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Hamas announced that its fighters were clashing with Israeli forces in areas close to the border with Israel, after Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza.
The interruption of Internet and communications services continued for more than ten hours until early Saturday.
Telecommunications companies and the Red Crescent Society said that the outage was due to the Israeli bombing.
“In addition to the attacks carried out in the past two days, ground forces are expanding their operations tonight,” Israeli army spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing on Friday evening, raising the question of whether the long-awaited ground invasion of Gaza has begun.
He added that the Israeli Air Force is carrying out intensive strikes on tunnels dug by Hamas and other infrastructure.
The al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said late on Friday that its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in the town of Beit Hanoun in northeastern Gaza and in Bureij refugees camp in central Gaza Strip.
Hamas stated, “The al Qassam Brigades and all Palestinian resistance forces are fully prepared to confront the aggression with full force and thwart the incursions”.
The statement added, “Netanyahu and his defeated army will not be able to achieve any military achievement”.
Since Israel launched a military operation against the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas, October 7 attack, they destroyed an entire neighborhood and killed 7,326 people, including 3,038 children, 1,726 women, and 414 elderlies, in addition to injuring 18,967 with various injuries.
