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THE IDF has taken out another top Hamas commander in an overnight blitz on Gaza hours after the terror group rejected Israel's ceasefire deal.

Hatem Alramery oversaw rocket launches at Israeli forces for months in the Strip before he was taken out in a warplane strike.

Hatem Alramery, killed in an IDF airstrike last night
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Hatem Alramery, killed in an IDF airstrike last night
Ruins in the Gaza Strip after six months of war
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Ruins in the Gaza Strip after six months of warCredit: EPA
Palestinians in Rafah - where over 1.4million of them are sheltering
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Palestinians in Rafah - where over 1.4million of them are shelteringCredit: Alamy

He headed up one of the terror group's cell hidden in Gaza's central refugee camps.

Israel has repeatedly said Hamas terrorists are hiding in the Strip's refugee camps since their attack on October 7 which killed 1,200 people.

The IDF said Alramery was killed when a fleet of their fighter jets dropped targeted airstrikes on the Strip.

News of the strike comes hours after Hamas rejected Israel's ceasefire proposal before PM Netanyahu revealed plans for a fresh invasion of Rafah.

READ MORE ON ISRAEL HAMAS WAR

The IDF described Alramery as the "Head of Hamas' Emergency Bureau in the Central Camps".

He also "served as a Hamas military wing operative in the field of projectile launches within the Maghazi Battalion".

Just days ago Israel took out one of Hamas boss' Yahya Sinwar's henchmen - Marwan Issa.

Issa, dubbed the "Shadow Man", sat at the top of the IDF's most wanted kill list for months.

He was the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing and reported directly to Sinwar, the monster dubbed “The Hamas Bin Laden”.

He died alongside another top terror chief - Ghazi Abu Tamaa.

Under international pressure to end the six-month stretch of brutal fighting in Gaza, Hamas and Israeli representatives met at a crunch meeting in Egypt on Monday to discuss ceasefire terms.

But instead of announcing a pause in fighting Netanyahu revealed Israel has set a date to invade Rafah in southern Gaza, although he did not specify when.

The narrow section of the Strip is currently home to over 1.4million sheltering Palestinians after most of Gaza has been destroyed.

Netanyahu said: "We are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas.

"This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date."

Israeli invasion of Rafah

ISRAEL began it's October ground invasion of Gaza in the north, moving south over the six months of war

Most of the Strip has been destroyed by relentless airstrikes, and several high profile Hamas commanders have been taken out.

The IDF has also revealed footage of Hamas strongholds and tunnels they've uncovered during operations in the war-torn enclave.

Now Rafah, a strip in the south near Gaza's border, is home to most of the Palestinian population who have survived.

Over 1.4million civilians are living there in refugee camps, hospitals and the ruins of residential buildings.

Israeli intelligence reports that Hamas is also hiding there - using the last remaining hub of civilian life to go unnoticed.

Now the IDF is set to invade Rafah after withdrawing troops from elsewhere in the south to regroup.

Calls from inside the Israeli government have said it is the only way they can truly defeat Hamas and win the war.

It is also where Israel believes Hamas may be keeping the hostages kidnapped on October 7.

The Israeli PM was coming under pressure from all sides as his people rose up in protest on the weekend for a ceasefire and senior ministers threatened mutiny.

Challengers bubbled up from inside government ranks after the IDF almost completely withdrew from southern Gaza on Sunday.

Israel's national security minister Ben-Gvir quickly slammed the decision, calling on Netanyahu to begin a fresh ground assault in Rafah where over 1.4million Palestinians are sheltering.

He suggested Netanyahu would not be able to continue as PM after the decision.

Ben-Gvir raged on X: "If the prime minister decides to end the war without a large-scale offensive in Rafah to defeat Hamas, he will not have a mandate to continue serving as prime minister."

Fellow right-wing finance minister Bezalel Smotrich also said the decision hurts Israel's chances at victory.

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He said: “The only forum authorised to make significant decisions is the full [Security] Cabinet, but unfortunately this is not how things are happening.

"We are seeing decisions being made in the smaller [War] Cabinet without approval…[and] under international pressure that is harming the war’s momentum and our interests."

Chaos as exploded in the Middle East after six months of war between Israel and Hamas
Chaos as exploded in the Middle East after six months of war between Israel and Hamas
Another top Hamas terrorist, Marwan Issa, was taken out in an Israeli strike just days ago
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Another top Hamas terrorist, Marwan Issa, was taken out in an Israeli strike just days ago
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