IDF sources said Thursday that senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Omar El-Khatib, who was killed earlier in the day in an IAF airstrike, was responsible for an attempted attack on Kissufim crossing in June. Khatib was also behind the arrest and torture of an Arab man suspected of assisting Israel; the man died in prison of torture wounds.
IDF officials denied Arab claims that Israel had attempted to assassinate Khatib earlier in the week. Local Arabs claimed that a missile was fired at Khatib’s house shortly after he received a phone call from an Israeli number.