Senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Ahmed Ridad was killed Tuesday morning in Shechem during an IDF operation. Ridad headed the Islamic Jihad's Al-Kuds Brigade and was from the village of Ilar.
The operation began with a dozen IDF jeeps and transport vehicles entering the terrorist hotbed before sunrise and surrounding the house where Ridad and several other terrrorists were hiding. When the forces called upon Ridad to give himself up, they began shooting from inside the house.
Two IDF soldiers were wounded in the mission – one lightly and one moderately, according to Israel Radio.
In the south, the Air Force bombed approach routes and open fields from which Kassam rockets have been fired over the last day. The fields are located in the former Jewish communities of Elei Sinai, Nissanit and Dugit, in northern Gaza. A bridge in the Beit Hanoun area, opposite the town of Sderot, was also blown up.
According to the IDF, the objective of the bombing was to damage roads leading to the missile launching grounds thereby impeding terrorist movement.
Two terrorists from the outgoing Fatah group's Al-Aksa Brigades, on their way to launch Kassam rockets at western Negev towns, were killed in a targeted IDF attack on their vehicle Monday night. The terrorists, Raami Hanoun and Yassir Asfour, were killed by two missiles fired at their vehicle as it drove through the Jabalya slums.
Fatah, whose chairman Mahmoud Abbas is considered a moderate by US President George W. Bush and Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, vowed revenge. "Our answer is open war against all the Zionists," spokesman Abu Kusai, said, "soldiers and civilians included."
Earlier Monday, two Islamic Jihad terrorists were also killed in another targeted killing.
Monday evening, Arab terrorists hurled firebombs at Israeli vehicles traveling in Samaria, between the communities of Nili and Naale in the Binyamin region. No injuries were reported.
Midday Tuesday, a Kassam rocket was fired at the western Negev. It landed in an open area, and the IDF responded with artillery fire.