Four Islamic Jihad members died Tuesday in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital officials said, taking the toll of overnight raids in Gaza Strip to nine. In the West Bak, another Islamic Jihad activist was shot dead by Israeli troops.
In the latest attack in the Strip, the four members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, were killed while travelling near Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, the hospital officials said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the air strike in the north of the Gaza Strip,according to AFP. The Islamic Jihad said the four were killed in an attack near a local mosque after they held the morning prayer. The victims were identified as Muhammed al Turamsi (Abu Said), Osama Yasin (Abu Ali), Samir Baker (Abu Emad) and Husam Abu Habal (Abu Obeida).
Two Israeli air strikes late on Monday killed five Islamic Jihad activists, including the Gaza Strip military chief.
The first strike on a vehicle in Gaza City killed two Islamic Jihad men, including Majed Yusuf al-Harazin, 36, the Gaza Strip chief of the Al-Quds Brigades, the group said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said Harazin was suspected of "supervising commandos responsible for firing rockets at southern Israel."
According to the Palestinian sources, an Israeli warplane fired at least one missile on a car in al-Nasser street in Gaza downtown, killing the two and wounding four others, including children. The other victim of this attack was identified as Jihad Mustafa Dhaher, 30.
Following the news, Islamic Jihad supporters gathered around the morgue in Gaza and pledged revenge. "The blood of our comrades will be the fuel for the rockets that will bring death and destruction to the Zionists," Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said.
The second air strike killed three Islamic Jihad operatives, who according to the Israeli military "were preparing to fire rockets into southern Israel." The victims of this attack were named as Karim Marwan Dahdouh, 26, Ammar Abu Said, 28 and Ayamn al Eilleh, 27.
Early Tuesday, the Islamic Jihad also announced that its commander in the northern West Bank Tareq Abu Ali had been killed by an undercover Israeli unit. The statement said the incident took place near the Qabatia town in the area of Jenin, when the Israeli force ambused the car of four Islamic Jihad members. Abu Ali was killed while three other activists who were with him in the car were wounded.
