The Hamas terrorist organization acknowledged on Friday that one its members was killed during the latest round of escalation this week between Israel and the Islamic Jihad.
The Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, named the member as Ahmed Abdel al-A’al, saying he and two of his teenage brothers were killed in a “Zionist bombardment” on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, reported Channel 13 News, Hamas officials who paid a condolence call to the family of the senior Islamic Jihad leader who was eliminated by Israel earlier this week were turned away using violence. The incident was meant to send a message to the Hamas officials that they were not welcome due to the fact that they did not take part in the last round of escalation.
More than 450 rockets were fired towards Israel in this week’s round of fighting, and Israel eliminated more than 20 Islamic Jihad terrorists.
An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between the sides went into effect at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning but the rocket fire continued until Thursday evening, before quiet was maintained in the area on Friday.
Israel, which usually holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from Gaza, this time singled out the Islamic Jihad for the violence.
Hamas, while repeatedly saying it would not abandon its ally, reportedly made clear to the Islamic Jihad that it would not get involved in the rocket fire this time.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)