IAF pilots struck and killed two Gaza terrorists after they targeted an army patrol near the Kissufim Crossing Thursday morning. According to Palestinian Authority sources, a third terrorist who suffered critical injuries died shortly after. The attack was followed in rapid succession by several rocket attacks launched from Gaza.
The first rocket, which exploded in the Sdot Negev region, landed at about 9:00 a.m. About 40 minutes later, two more short-range Kassam rockets were launched from Gaza, both exploding in open areas within the Sha'ar HaNegev region. There were no injuries or property damage reported in any of the rocket attacks.
Another rocket was launched about an hour later, and a mortar shell was fired as well, both aimed at the Sha'ar HaNegev region. A fifth rocket also exploded in the same area at approximately 12:20 p.m. No one was injured and no damage was reported in any of the later attacks. The Al Quds Brigades division of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
IDF sources said the early-morning air strike, the second to be carried out in less than 24 hours, came in direct response to the terror cell having opened fire on soldiers patrolling near the security barrier. The terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at the soldiers' jeep as it drove along the Gaza fence near the Kissufim Crossing.
PA sources said the terrorists were killed near the Mughazi camp in central Gaza, which is located not far from Kissufim.
A senior Islamic Jihad terrorist commander was killed and a second operative was critically wounded in an IAF air strike on Wednesday night. Pilots fired the missile at his car as he was driving in northern Gaza from Jabaliya to Beit Lahiya. During the air operations, three smuggling tunnels were also hit in southern Gaza, where secondary explosions also occurred due to the presence of weapons in the tunnels.
The dead terrorist, Khaled Khareb Khaled Sha'alan, a commander of the Al Quds Brigades military wing of Islamic Jihad, was responsible for firing the missiles that struck the coastal city, according to IDF sources. His companion, Hamza al-Najah, was also a member of the Al Quds Brigades, but it was not clear whether he had been involved in the recent attacks on Ashkelon.
Both men leaped out of the car when they heard the IAF aircraft approaching, but failed to clear the area before the missile hit. According to local sources, five other people were also wounded in the strike.
The IAF attacks came in retaliation for Grad missile attacks on Asheklon earlier in the week, said the IDF Spokesperson, adding in a statement that Israel holds the ruling Hamas terrorist organization completely responsible for any attacks on Israel, regardless of which group launches them. "Hamas is a terrorist organization responsible for the complete maintenance of peace in the southern Israeli communities and the IDF will continue to respond severely at any attempt to disrupt the peace," the statement read.
The terrorist group vowed revenge for the attacks in its own statement released to the media following the air strike. "The assassination points to the fact that the Zionist entity is not interested in calm. Therefore [Israel should] expect our reaction, and more rockets," Islamic Jihad warned.
Less than an hour after the IAF air strike on Thursday morning, Gaza terrorists resumed their rocket attacks on the western Negev. A short-range Kassam rocket exploded at around 9:00 a.m. in the Sdot Negev region. No one was physically wounded and no damage was reported.