Asem Abu Rakaba, the head of Hamas Aerial Array, was killed by Israeli forces.
Rakaba was involved in the planning of the October 7 attack against Israel.
He was the mastermind behind Hamas’ attacks on Israelis using paragliders, UAVs, and drones.
However, Rakaba was shot down by an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fighter plane on Friday night.
IDF wrote this on X:
“Overnight, IDF fighter jets struck Asem Abu Rakaba, the Head of Hamas’ Aerial Array.
“Abu Rakaba was responsible for Hamas’ UAVs, drones, paragliders, aerial detection and defense.
“He took part in planning the October 7 massacre and commanded the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders and was responsible for the drone attacks on IDF.”
This follows the IDF’s announcement that it is “expanding ground operations” in Gaza and “operating forcefully” on all fronts to achieve its aims in the fight with Hamas.
The news comes as bombings and bombardments continue in Gaza.
Israel’s military launched “targeted raids” in northern Gaza for a second night, after pledging to resume ground assaults in the coming days and despite mounting humanitarian concerns about the fate of residents in the enclave.
cc: Daily Post Ng
