Rukbay was responsible for issues related to, among others: Hamas air defense systems, drone attacks and combat operations using paragliders. He played a key role in the planning and execution of a terrorist attack on Israel, the Times of Israel quoted the Israeli Armed Forces as saying on October 7.
Hamas: Our forces have met Israeli troops, we are ready to counter an Israeli ground attack
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, confronted Israeli troops in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave on Saturday morning and announced they were ready to counter an Israeli ground attack, the Jerusalem Post reported.
According to reports from the Palestinian side, fighting between Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers and Hamas fighters is taking place between the town of Beit Hanoun and Al-Burej refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
A few hours earlier, Palestinian media reported that Israeli tanks were being deployed in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, on Friday evening, the Israeli Air Force began attacking Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip.
Just before 2 a.m. local time, alarm sirens sounded in the Moshav native Hazara on the border with the northern Gaza Strip.
On Friday evening, Israeli spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced the expansion of military operations in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, telecommunications service providers in the Palestinian exclave reported that mobile phones and the Internet stopped working as a result of the intense bombing.
The October 7 strike by Hamas from the Gaza Strip resulted in the highest number of Israeli deaths since the Jewish state went to war with the Syrian-Egyptian coalition in 1973. About 1,400 people died in the 21-day conflict. Israeli citizens and more than 7.3 thousand residents of the Gaza Strip.