The Israeli army says it has killed Wael Abu Fanuna, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated on Friday.

Wael Abu Fanuna was allegedly the deputy head of the Islamic Jihad’s propaganda unit and was killed in an air strike on a house on Thursday, the IDF said.

The terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is considered one of the most radical militant groups in the Middle East, with its members repeatedly firing rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip. However, they are seen as being less powerful than Hamas.

So far, there has been no confirmation of the death from Gaza. However, telephones and internet in the embattled coastal strip were down for the eighth day in a row on Friday.

Israeli ground troops reported they were still fighting Hamas in Gaza on Friday, aided by the air force and naval units off the coast.

It said 192 soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground offensive.

In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health authority reported almost 24,500 dead and more than 61,500 injured by Israeli attacks since the beginning of the war.

The war was triggered on October 7 by Hamas and other extremist groups’ terrorist attacks on Israel.

More than 1,200 people were killed, and 253 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. 

(dpa/NAN)