The IDF confirmed the elimination of the leader of the military wing of the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees terror group, Rafat Abu Hilal, in an airstrike overnight Wednesday on the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The intelligence for this operation was provided by the Shin Bet.

It’s worth noting that the Popular Resistance Committee is the third largest terror group in the Gaza Strip, following Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

On Thursday morning, it was reported by Gazan sources that Israel eliminated Jamila al-Shanti, the first woman to serve in the Hamas political bureau and the widow of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, one of the founders of Hamas – also in an airstrike overnight Wednesday.

Rantisi was eliminated in an Israeli airstrike during the Second Intifada, in 2004.

استشهاد الصديقة العزيزة الاستشهادية (جميلة الشنطي) عضو المكتب السياسي لحركة حماس في غزة … (انا لله وانا اليه راجعون) … #طوفان_الأقصى pic.twitter.com/Gk9OTZpuC8

— محمد عبد العزيز الرنتيسي (@M_alrantisi1979) October 19, 2023

Later on Thursday, there were media reports from the Gaza Strip that Jihad Mohisan, the commander of national security forces in the Strip, was eliminated overnight in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City.

Additionally, the IDF reported that it successfully targeted and destroyed numerous Hamas sites in the past 24 hours, including anti-tank missile launch sites, tunnel entrances, intelligence facilities, operational headquarters, and other key installations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)