Israeli occupation forces (IOF) carried out a drone strike on Friday, November 22, 2024, resulting in the assassination of Murad al-Rajoub, a former prisoner deported to Gaza. 

Murad al-Rajoub, a resident of Dura in al-Khalil (Hebron) in the West Bank, had been released and exiled to Gaza as part of the 2011 Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange agreement. At the time of his release, al-Rajoub had served 10 years of a 38-year sentence in Israeli prisons. He was affiliated with the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. 

Local sources reported that an Israeli drone targeted al-Rajoub while he was walking on An-Nasr Street in western Gaza City. The attack instantly killed him along with three other individuals. 

Al-Rajoub's family condemned the strike, describing it as part of a broader pattern of targeting former prisoners deported under the Wafa al-Ahrar deal. The assassination marks the latest in a series of similar killings since the beginning of the IOF’s military campaign against Gaza in October 2023. 

The ongoing Israeli aggression has reportedly resulted in the deaths of numerous individuals released in the exchange agreement, intensifying tensions and raising concerns about the safety of former detainees in the besieged enclave. (ILKHA)