Israeli military aircraft killed three Hamas members in Rafah on Saturday, including two senior military operatives, the Israel Defense Forces claimed in a statement.
The military said the operatives killed included Ahmed Eliakubi, who the Israeli military claims was “responsible for the security provisions for senior Hamas leaders and served as a senior commander in the Rafah district.”
The statement said the attack also killed a senior military member identified by the IDF as Iman Rantisi, and a third militant who was not identified.
CNN cannot independently verify the claims, due to the difficulty of reporting from the war zone.
Remember: Rafah is a southern Gaza city packed with Palestinians who have been displaced from other parts of the enclave, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now directed his military to plan for the evacuation of civilians before a coming ground offensive.
Rafah is the last major population center in Gaza not occupied by Israeli forces, and Palestinians living there have warned they have no place to go.