A senior Israeli security official said Tuesday evening that the strike targeting the commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade appears to have succeeded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier confirmed the airstrike in southern Gaza's Mawasi area, vowing the complete destruction of Hamas. The target was identified by Israeli officials as Na'el Abu Atiyah, with local sources in Gaza also indicating the operation was successful.
A senior Israeli security official told The Zioneer on Tuesday evening that the targeted strike against the commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade "appears to have succeeded," offering the first on-record Israeli assessment of the operation's outcome. The confirmation came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier Tuesday evening officially confirmed the precision strike in the Mawasi area of southern Gaza, identifying the target as Na'el Abu Atiyah, commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades' Rafah Brigade, vowing the complete destruction of Hamas.
The development caps a rapid sequence of reports Tuesday evening. At 22:08, the IDF and Shin Bet announced they had struck a senior Hamas operative in southern Gaza, with Israeli media and security analysts identifying the target as the Rafah Brigade commander. Minutes later, Netanyahu and Katz officially confirmed the strike, declaring that "no terrorist is immune, and Hamas will not be in Gaza." Gaza-based sources subsequently confirmed the elimination of Na'el Abu Ubaid, identified by Israeli officials as Abu Atiyah. The senior security official's assessment then provided the first Israeli confirmation that the operation had achieved its objective.
As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday evening, the strike is part of Israel's ongoing campaign to dismantle Hamas's remaining military hierarchy in southern Gaza. This follows the recent elimination of the Khan Younis Brigade commander and the Jabaliya battalion commander Ahmad Batsh, as well as the capture of Hamas's internal security chief Mu'in al-Arabid in a Shin Bet operation earlier this month. The Rafah Brigade was the last intact Hamas regional command in Gaza, making its commander a high-priority target.
Casualty figures and further details regarding the strike have not yet been released.
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