The Israel Defense Forces killed a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad terror group responsible for the firing dozens of rockets out of the Gaza Strip, authorities said early Tuesday, in an attack that could send the sides sliding back toward war.
The IDF said it carried out a strike against a building where Baha Abu al-Ata was present in the Shejaiya area of Gaza City.
The Times of Israel reports that the Gazan health ministry said one person was killed in the blast, and Islamic Jihad’s military wing sent out a statement mourning the death of al-Ata.
“Al-Ata was thought to be the powerful head of the northern branch of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, and was seen as responsible for a number of rocket attacks on the country”, the report adds.
In a statement, the IDF called al-Ata a “ticking time bomb,” and said he was gearing up for “imminent” attacks on Israel, including pushing forward plans to carry out sniper attacks and send cells of terrorists across the border. It also said he had plotted drone attacks and to launch of rockets with different ranges.
Meanwhile. a Palestinian man was shot and killed on Monday during clashes with Israeli forces in the south of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and medics said.
Palestinian medical sources identified the man as 22-year-old Omar al-Badawi, who was hit in the chest with live fire before being taken to Ahali hospital in the nearby city of Hebron, where he was pronounced dead.
The clashes came as Palestinians in the West Bank marked the 15th anniversary of the death of former president Yasser Arafat.
Medics also reported Israeli use of live fire in clashes at Fawwar, south of Hebron.
Via AFP/Naharnet/Times of Israel
