Militants retaliate with rockets after Israel kills Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza strike
- Israel’s military killed a commander for Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a strike on his home in the Gaza Strip
- The strike led to sporadic rocket fire from the Gaza Strip toward Israel
Israel killed a top commander from the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a rare targeted strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, accusing him of carrying out a series of cross-border attacks and planning more.
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 one two people including one of his sons, Syrian state media said. Israel declined to comment on the incident.
“Israel executed two coordinated attacks, in Syria and in Gaza, in a declaration of war,” Islamic Jihad leader Khaled Al-Batsh said at the Gaza funeral of Baha Abu Al-Atta, who Israeli officials described as a “ticking bomb”.
“We conducted the attack [on Al-Atta] because there was no other choice,” Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said. “I want to emphasise that we are not looking to further escalate the situation.”
