Senior Islamic Jihad Leader Involved in Oct 7 Attack Killed in Gaza Airstrike

Jerusalem: A senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) member who played a major part in the events of October 7 was killed during an Israeli airstike in southern Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement released in the early hours of Sunday. According to the statement, Aiman Zaarab, one of the commanders of the PIJ's Rafah brigade, was killed as a result of an operation jointly led by the IDF and the intelligence agency Shin Bet. The statement notes that Zaarab was responsible for the PIJ Nukhba force's attack on Kibbutz Sufa and the Sufa military post on October 7. 

Additionally, Zaarab, in recent days, was reportedly leading the PIJ's preparations for significant combat operations in the southern part of the Gaza Strip before he and two of his PIJ associates were killed in the aforementioned Israeli airstrike.