Israeli airstrike on Rafah kills two senior Hamas commanders, dozens of civilians

An Israeli airstrike on a Hamas compound in the Gaza town of Rafah killed two senior Hamas officials and dozens of civilians.

Although the exact number of people killed remains unclear at this time, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it struck a Hamas compound in Rafah where “major Hamas terrorists were operating.”

The Israeli military, citing intelligence that it said indicated Hamas used the area, said it carried out the strike “against legitimate targets under international law.”

IDF sources told Fox News Digital that the strike eliminated Yassin Rabia, the commander of the Hamas leadership in Judea and Samaria, as well as Khaled Nagar, a senior official in Hamas’ Judea and Samaria branch.

The Israeli military said the two carried out numerous terrorist attacks in the early 2000s in which Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed.

The Israeli military acknowledged reports that “several civilians in the area were injured” by the airstrike and subsequent fire. It said the incident was “under review.”

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Palestinian health and civil emergency services officials say the airstrike killed at least 35 Palestinians and injured dozens more.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the death toll was likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continue in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, more than a kilometer away. northwest of downtown.

The Red Crescent Society said Israel had designated the location a “humanitarian zone.” The neighborhood is not among the areas the Israeli army ordered to evacuate this month.

Images from the scene show significant destruction.

The airstrike was reported hours after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in what appears to be the first long-range rocket attack from Gaza since January. Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility. The Israeli military said eight projectiles entered Israel after being launched from Rafah and that “a number” were intercepted and the launcher was destroyed.

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The war between Israel and Hamas has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in dense residential areas.

About 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, severe famine is widespread and U.N. officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

Hamas started the war with its October 7 attack in Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and captured some 250 hostages. Hamas still holds around 100 hostages and the remains of around 30 others after most of the others were freed in a ceasefire last year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel must take Rafah to eliminate Hamas’ remaining battalions and achieve “total victory” over the militants, who have recently regrouped in other parts of Gaza.

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Sunday’s strike came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population had sought refuge before this year’s Israeli incursion. this month. Tens of thousands of people remain in the region while many others have fled.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.