Senior Hamas commander killed in Gaza airstrike, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said a senior Hamas commander responsible for the group's military security operations in the Rafah Brigade was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip last week.

According to the IDF, Ismail Masri was targeted in a strike carried out on June 23. The military described him as a "senior figure" within Hamas' Rafah Brigade who was "responsible for advancing activities intended to harm the IDF's freedom of action in the Gaza Strip."

"During the war, Masri coordinated the fields of security and counterintelligence in the Rafah Brigade and engaged in attempts to rehabilitate and strengthen military security, to harm our forces," the IDF said in a statement.

By Vafa Guliyeva