An Israeli air strike killed a top commander of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad in the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday and fighters responded by firing a barrage of rockets towards Israel.
Islamic Jihad’s armed wing announced the killing of Bahaa Abu al-Ata in a statement after Israel confirmed it targeted the 42-year-old leader.
Separately, the Palestinian group said Israel also attacked the home of one of its political leaders in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Islamic Jihad said Abu al-Ata’s wife was also killed in the blast that ripped through their home in Gaza City’s Shejaiya district before dawn. At least two others were wounded, according to medics.
The group said Abu al-Ata was killed during “a heroic action”, without elaborating, and promised to take revenge.
“Our inevitable retaliation will rock the Zionist entity,” it said, referring to Israel.
Hamas, the Palestinian organisation that administers the Gaza Strip, said Israel “bears full responsibility for all consequences of this escalation”, and promised Abu al-Ata’s death “will not go unpunished”.
The Israeli military said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorised the operation against Abu al-Ata, blaming him for recent rocket, drone and sniper attacks against Israel, and attempted infiltrations into the country.
“Abu al-Ata was responsible for most of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s activity in the Gaza Strip and was a ticking bomb,” it said, accusing al-Ata of planning “imminent terror attacks through various means”.
Gaza has been under a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade for more than 10 years, and the freedom of movement for the population of two million has been severely curtailed.
