In counter-terrorism operations on Thursday, IDF forces successfully killed or arrested several wanted Islamic Jihad terrorists. Meanwhile, enemy attacks continue, including attempts to tear down the security barrier under construction in Judea and Samaria.

An IDF airstrike near Gaza City killed three senior Islamic Jihad terrorists.

An IDF airstrike near Gaza City killed three senior Islamic Jihad terrorists on Thursday afternoon. Local Arabs said the men were driving south of the city when the missile hit. Islamic Jihad spokesmen confirmed that Omer Al-Khatib, the group's Gaza City military commander, was killed in the strike. The other two dead terrorists were identified as Khalil Al-Daife and Ahmed El-Halawi.

IDF sources said that Al-Khatib was responsible for an attempted attack on Kissufim crossing in June. Al-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 also denied Arab claims that Israel had attempted to assassinate Al-Khatib earlier in the week. Local Arabs, however, claimed that a missile was fired at Khatib's house shortly after he received a phone call from an Israeli number.

A second Islamic Jihad commander was taken out of circulation by IDF forces operating in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Tulkarem on Thursday. A Border Guard unit arrested Adham Younis, a leader of Islamic Jihad operatives in Tulkarem. Younis was responsible for transporting a suicide bomber to nearby Netanya in 2005, police said. The bomber detonated in the Sharon Mall, killing six Israelis and wounding dozens. Younis was also responsible for coordinating an attempted suicide bombing in February 2007, and he was involved in dozens of attempted bombings and shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria.

Other IDF airstrikes throughout the day on Thursday killed or wounded at least seven Palestinian Authority terrorists in Gaza.

A PA gunman was killed by an IAF missile in south-central Gaza, near the town of Khan

IDF airstrikes throughout the day.

Younis, on Thursday morning. Later, three Islamic Jihad terrorists were wounded when an Israeli missile struck their vehicle as it traveled in northern Gaza. The terrorists were on their way to launch a rocket attack when they were hit, according to the IDF spokesman. Two other PA terrorists preparing to launch Kassam rockets from northern Gaza were hit by IAF missiles on Thursday afternoon. Their launching equipment was destroyed in the airstrike, and both terrorists were wounded. On Thursday evening, a Hamas terrorist was killed in another airstrike in Gaza. Three other terrorists were wounded in that attack.

Meanwhile, IDF soldiers on the ground in southern Gaza fired at two enemy gunmen carrying an anti-tank missile. The two potential attackers were spotted making their way towards the soldiers. No information was available on the condition of the PA gunmen.

In a security incident in eastern Gush Etzion on Thursday morning, a 21-year-old PA resident armed with a knife approached several IDF soldiers near Tekoa and tried to stab them. A soldier who was about to shoot the attacker feared that he might hit a fellow soldier at such close proximity, so the rescuing soldier beat the perpetrator with his club instead. An IDF paramedic force arrived to give the knife-wielding assailant medical treatment, but he died of his wounds. No IDF injuries were reported.

In related PA attacks, enemy forces in northern Gaza fired two mortar shells towards the western Negev on Thursday night. The shells landed near Kissufim crossing. No injuries were reported in the attack. According to IDF officials, mortar attacks have increased in frequency since last year. Terrorists fired at least 12 mortars earlier in the week, 11 of which landed near Kissufim.

Near the Arab village of Burka, northwest of Shechem, Arab attackers threw several firebombs at IDF soldiers on Thursday night. IDF forces searched the area and found two additional Molotov cocktails.

20 extreme-left Israeli activists attacked a security fence.

PA Attacks on Civilian Targets

In PA attacks on civilian targets on Thursday, Gaza terrorists fired two Kassam rockets at the western Negev in the afternoon. The rockets hit greenhouses in Netiv HaAsarah.



Thursday night, Arab terrorists fired at least four rockets at Sderot. One of them scored a direct hit on a home in the center of the Negev city. The building was vacated recently, after its owner died. Several people nearby were treated for shock. A rocket landed north of Sderot, as well, and others struck near Negev agricultural communities adjacent to the city.

Near Hevron, a group of roughly 20 extreme-left Israeli activists attacked a security fence on Thursday, tearing down 20 meters of it. The destroyed section was located near the Arab village of Tzurif. The Hevron-area fence is part of the larger security barrier under construction in Judea and Samaria. The leftist vandals claimed that the fence has a negative impact on local Arabs' quality of life and that it was built on Arab-owned land.