Gaza terrorist slain in Rafah firefight

Israel Defense Force troops killed a terrorist gunman in an exchange of fire in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah on Saturday, the army said.

During an IDF operation “to clear the area of terrorists and terror infrastructure,” the Palestinian opened fire, the military said, adding that no Israeli soldiers sustained injuries.

A day earlier, the IDF “struck and eliminated two armed Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip who posed a threat,” according to the Saturday statement.

IDF soldiers remain deployed in the Strip accordance with the U.S.-brokered Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire agreement “and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the army concluded.

Last week, the army killed three Gazan terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line in the northern Strip and posed a threat to soldiers. Combat teams of the 205th “Iron Fist” Armored Brigade identified four terrorists violating the ceasefire terms by encroaching into Israeli-held territory.

In a separate incident, combat teams of the Gaza Division’s Northern “Gefen” Brigade identified a terrorist who crossed the Yellow Line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat, the statement continued.

Following the identification, the forces eliminated three of the terrorists, the Israeli military added.

The current Gaza truce went into effect on Oct. 10, 2025, ending a two-year war that started when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded Israel’s western Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, and slaughtered approximately 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others.