“Removed”. Israeli Army Claims Killing of High-Ranking Pal Islamic Jihad Commander

The removed commander is named as Aiman ​​Zaarab, who in recent years “commanded and directed” several attacks and attempted infiltrations into Israel, the IDF and Shin Bet said.

According to the IDF, Zaarab led the elite forces of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad during the attack carried out mainly by the Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023. He was directly involved in the attack against Kibbutz Sufa and the military post located near.

Before he was eliminated, Zaarab was preparing from his hiding place the response of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the event of the launch of the Israeli operation in Rafah.

During the assault in Sufa, located about 2.5 kilometers east of Rafah, terrorists led by Zaarab went from house to house and opened fire on local residents. In addition, they attacked an ambulance that arrived at the scene.

Nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the massacre on October 7, 2023, the bloodiest suffered by Israelis since the founding of their state in 1948. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, which focuses now preparing for a large-scale operation in Rafah, considered the last bastion of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including Islamic Jihad.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, under the influence of Iran, is considered by the Israelis to be the second most relevant terrorist group in Gaza after Hamas. This group is blacklisted by the EU, the US and other countries.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has yet to comment on the death of its top commander.

The IDF claims to have eliminated more than 13,000 terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in addition to a thousand of those who participated in the October 7 attack.

The Hamas-affiliated Gaza Ministry of Health presents a toll of 34,600 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the ongoing war. The Israeli side contests this balance, stating that the data is not correct, and often impossible to verify. Also, the Israeli side states, this toll includes, in addition to civilians, terrorists and armed Palestinians killed not only in Gaza, but also in Israel, as well as Palestinians killed by rockets launched by Hamas and other terrorist groups.

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