The military says the strike killed Muhammad Fathi Abd al-Hay Abu Fakher, the commander of the Yabna Battalion in the Hamas Rafah Brigade. According to the IDF, Abu Fakher was recently recruiting new operatives and working to rebuild the battalion's capabilities to attack Israeli forces.
The IDF and Shin Bet have eliminated Muhammad Fathi Abd al-Hay Abu Fakher, the commander of the 'Yabna' Battalion in Hamas's Rafah Brigade, the military announced Tuesday evening. According to the IDF announcement, Abu Fakher was actively recruiting new operatives, leading their training, and attempting to rehabilitate the battalion's capabilities to conduct attacks against Israeli forces. The military also noted that Abu Fakher was a veteran Hamas commander and a senior figure in the terror group's smuggling apparatus for roughly 20 years, playing a central role in weapons smuggling into Gaza. As The Zioneer reported earlier Tuesday (18:42 Jerusalem), the military had already confirmed the elimination of a senior Hamas smuggling chief, identified in subsequent messages as Abu Fakher. The operation follows a series of targeted eliminations by the IDF and Shin Bet in recent weeks, including that of Hamas Rafah Brigade military security chief Ismail Masri last week.
6 developments
- StrongIDF details elimination of senior Hamas smuggler and supply chief Muhammad Abu Fakher
- StrongIDF eliminates senior Hamas operative involved in holding hostages
- StrongIDF and Shin Bet eliminated Hamas Rafah Brigade security chief Ismail Masri last week
- StrongIDF says it eliminated another senior Hezbollah commander, closes 'important circle'
Source and signal
- Internal intake