WATCH: IDF, Shin Bet assassinate key Hamas weapons smuggler, Hassan Atrash, in Rafah

An Israeli fighter jet successfully assassinated Hamas leader Hassan Atrash, the IDF and Shin Bet announced on Saturday.

The assassination took place in the Rafah area in southern Gaza.

Atrash was responsible for the trade, production, and equipping of the military arm of Hamas. He also took part in the smuggling of weapons from various countries into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The IDF has been focused on taking out key players in Hamas during the war, often launching targeted attacks on them.

This is in addition to its regular combat operation against Hamas fighters.

Often these operations involve airstrikes on cars or apartments holding the commander.

Successful targeting of Hamas commanders

The Israeli military's Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X, that the IDF has successfully targeted four out of seven senior Hamas brigade commanders.

#عاجل جيش الدفاع يواصل تفكيك لواء غزة في حماس. ومن أصل سبعة قادة اللواء الكبار تم حتى الآن تصفية أربعة ولم يتبقَ سوى ثلاثة قادة كبار ضمن سلسلة القيادة هم قائد اللواء وقائديْ كتيبتين.عز الدين حدادعماد اسليمجبر حسن عزيزمن خلال الصور التي تم العثور عليها خلال إحدى عمليات… pic.twitter.com/xvXg8aFcZv

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 21, 2023

"The IDF continued to dismantle Hamas's Gaza brigades," Adraee wrote."Of the seven senior brigade commanders, four have so far been liquidated, leaving only three senior commanders within the chain of command."

The three commanders included Ezz al-Din al-Haddad, a commander in Hamas's al-Qassam Brigades, and two battalion commanders, Imad Aslim and Jabr Hasan Aziz.