, Sept. 16 -- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday night that the commander of Hamas' Rafah Brigade was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military and Shin Bet security agency said they had conducted a strike targeting a "senior" Hamas figure in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a joint statement issued later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz said the operation came after Hamas' Khan Younis Brigade commander and other senior figures were killed earlier this week.

They also said no militant was "immune" and that Hamas would not remain in Gaza.

Palestinian medical sources, however, reported that at least two Palestinians, including a child, were killed and several others injur...