Islamic jihadist commander killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

Gaza (Best Hindu News): A senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Palestinian security officials confirmed that the head of PIJ’s missile unit, Ali Hassan Ghali, was killed in two Israeli suicide drone strikes on his apartment in Hamad Residential near Khan Younis, Xinhua news agency reported.

His brother Mahmood Ghali and nephew Mahmood Mansoor were also in the apartment at the time, officials said. He too was killed in the drone strike.

Palestinian medical workers at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said three Palestinians were brought to the hospital dead after the attack, while others were wounded.

The PIJ’s armed Shakh al-Quds Brigades confirmed the incident, calling the Israeli airstrikes a treacherous Jewish killing campaign.

Israel’s military also confirmed it had targeted two other PIJ operatives in Ghali and Gaza.

He described the commander as a central figure in PIJ who was responsible for firing rockets launched recently against Israel.

The latest attacks came two days after Israeli drones and fighter jets carried out simultaneous airstrikes on several buildings in the Gaza Strip.

Efforts on Wednesday by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations to end the latest tensions and reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the PIJ failed. So far 24 people have been killed in these clashes and more than 70 others have been injured.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday night that the country’s campaign was not over, the BBC reported.

“We have dealt the biggest blow ever to Islamic Jihad,” he said, referring to the killing of three PIJ commanders on Tuesday.

The PIJ is the second largest militant group in Gaza after Hamas and has been responsible for several rocket attacks on Israel in recent years.

This week’s airstrikes were the deadliest since three days of hostilities between Israel and the PIJ last August, which killed 49 Palestinians in Gaza.

PIJ and other groups fired more than 100 rockets into Israel over two days last week after a Palestinian hunger striker died in an Israeli prison.

The Israeli army responded with airstrikes on Hamas-affiliated sites.

Tension also remained high in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday after Israel carried out arrest raids.

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the city of Qabatiya. He said that both had fired at him.

An Israeli soldier was also seriously wounded in a separate shootout with Palestinian gunmen in Tubas.