Sliding up curtains signifying downfall of Islamic Jihad ideology, Israel troops kill Abu Al-Atta in Gaza

Gaza, November 12: Who would have thought, the ideology which you built in will be the reason for your downfall. First as the United States force killed the most wanted Baghdadi leader, followed by French force gunning down top jihadi leader Ali Maychou, now Israeli troops killed a top commander from the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. He was killed in a rare targeted strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, while militants responded by firing rockets at Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv.

 

In the most serious escalation in months, an Israeli missile attack also targeted the home of an Islamic Jihad official in Damascus, killing two people including one of his sons, Syrian state media said. However, Islamic Jihad said the target was the home of political leader Akram Al-Ajouri. Hours later, sirens sounded in central Israeli cities, including the commercial capital of Tel Aviv the military and witnesses said, warning of possible rocket launches from the Gaza Strip.

The slaying of Baha Abu Al-Atta in his Gaza home looked likely to pose a new challenge for Gaza's ruling Hamas faction, which has mostly tried to maintain a truce with Israel since a 2014 war. Israel said Al-Atta had carried out a series of cross-border attacks and was planning more. Israel casts rising Gaza tensions as part of a wider regional struggle with arch-foe Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cited such scenarios in trying to form a broad coalition government after two inconclusive elections this year. Al-Atta's wife was also killed in the blast that ripped through the building in Gaza City's Shejaia district before dawn, Islamic Jihad said.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Netanyahu had authorised the operation against Al-Atta, blaming him for recent rocket, drone and sniper attacks against Israel, and attempted infiltrations into the country. "Abu Al-Atta was responsible for most of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's activity in the Gaza Strip and was a ticking bomb," the statement said, accusing Al-Atta of planning "imminent terror attacks through various means".

An Islamic Jihad statement confirmed the death of Al-Atta, who it said had been in the midst of "heroic jihadist action". "Our inevitable retaliation will rock the Zionist entity," the statement said, referring to Israel.

Israel's home-front command ordered schools shut across southern and central Israel, and instructed civilians to stay at home and not go into work unless it was vital and public shelters were opened. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israeli media reported that some of the rockets were intercepted.