Israel pushes deeper in Rafah, Gaza health official, Hamas commander killed in airstrike

As Israeli operations intensified in Rafah, Hani al-Jaafarawi, the director of Gaza's Ambulance and Emergency Department was killed in an airstrike in a medical clinic in Gaza City, according to the health ministry of the Palestinian enclave. Meanwhile, Israel's military said Mohammad Salah, one of the top Hamas commanders, was killed in the airstrike.

The health ministry said the killing of Hani al-Jaafarawi brought the number of medical staff killed by Israeli fire since Oct 7 to 500, while at least 300 others have so far been detained. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the strike targeted Salah, who was responsible for developing weapons for the Hamas group.

"Salah was part of a project to develop strategic weaponry for the Hamas terrorist organisation, and he commanded a number of Hamas terrorist squads that worked on developing weapons," it said. In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli forces which took control



of the eastern, southern, and central parts of the city pursued their raid into the western and northern areas, said residents, describing heavy fighting.

On Sunday, residents had said Israeli tanks had advanced to the edge of the Mawasi displaced persons' camp in the northwest of Rafah, forcing many families to leave northward to Khan Younis and to Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, the only city in the enclave where tanks have not yet invaded. Civilians also claimed that Israeli drones and snipers were hunting people who tried to check on their houses as tanks pushed further west.

The Israeli military said forces continued "intelligence-based targeted operations" in Rafah, locating weapons and rocket launchers and killing militants "who posed threats to them." Since early May, fighting has focused on Rafah, on Gaza's southern edge where around half of the enclave's 2.3 million people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas.