According to the Palestinian Health Ministry officials, a senior commander of Gaza Strip militant group Islamic Jihad was among ten people killed in Israeli air strikes officials on Tuesday. And in Damascus, Syria says an Israeli air strike killed at least two people including the son of Islamic Jihad leader, Akram al-Ajouri.
These progresses however, is oblige to escalate significant tensions between Israel and Gaza militants. Baha Abu al-Ata was killed in an overnight strike on a house in Shajaiyah, in Gaza City. His wife Asma Abu Al-Ata was also killed, as well as four others belonging to Islamic Jihad’s armed wing the Quds Brigade. A total of 45 people were wounded in the bombings.
Abu al-Ata was responsible for rocket fire from Gaza in recent months, the Prime Minister’s Office said shortly after the strike, as well as planning numerous other attacks against Israel. “Abu al-Ata was promoting preparations to commit immediate terror attacks in various ways towards Israeli civilian and IDF troops during the recent few days,” an IDF statement said. “AL-Ata trained terror squads for infiltration and sniper attacks, drone launching and rocket fire to different distances. “Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge the killing, saying in a statement: “The response to this crime will have no limits … the occupation will be the one responsible for this aggression.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad leader, Khaled al-Batsh, said Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “will pay a high price.”
After Hamas, Islamic Jihad is the second largest militant group in Gaza, which governs the coastal strip. Between the two main factions, it is seen as having a closer relationship with Iran. Both are vicious opponents of Israel, though tensions exist between them over their commitment to a truce with Israel that has largely held since the war in 2014.
When the truce has broken down and rockets have been fired from Gaza, Islamic Jihad has generally been seen as responsible of recent times. Smoke is seen in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike on November 12. On Tuesday morning the IDF said Islamic Jihad was behind more than 100 rockets fired into Israel from Gaza, with dozens intercepted by Israel’s aerial defense system. Two people were slightly injured when a rocket narrowly missed their car as they were driving in the eastern outskirts of Ashdod, according to Israeli emergency service United Hatzalah.
The IDF said dozens of rockets were interrupted by its aerial defense systems. Israel ordered the shot down of all schools and workplaces in Tel Aviv, as well as cities near Gaza to the country’s south. Israeli police inspect a hole in the highway in Ashdod on November 12.
Furthermore, in Damascus, the son of another Islamic Jihad leader, Akram al-Ajouri, was killed in overnight strikes, according to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency. Another person was also killed and 10 others injured, including Ajouri’s daughter, according to SANA.
SANA is pointing all fingers at Israel for the attack, saying 3 missiles were launched at Damascus by aircraft.
