The commander of the Al-Quds Brigades, Baha Abu al-Atta, and his wife, were killed early Tuesday by Israeli shelling that targeted their house in Al-Shojaeya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, at least three other citizens were wounded in the shelling by Israeli warplanes.
This comes at a time when the Israeli army, in cooperation with the Shin Bet, announced the targeting of a building where the senior leader of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, Baha Abu al-Atta, was present. Islamic Jihad confirmed the death of Abu al-Atta and his wife.
The operation was carried out with the approval of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the new army minister, Naftali Bennett.
The Israeli army accused Abu al-Atta of being behind most of the jihad activities in Gaza and of being a "time bomb". He pointed out that he led and participated directly in the attacks and attempts to strike settlers and soldiers in various locations, including firing rockets and fire from snipers and the launching of helicopters and others.
He noted that Abu al-Atta was responsible for most of the attacks last year from the Gaza Strip, the shooting at the Sderot festival on August 25, 2019, and the latest rocket attack on the city of Sderot and surrounding settlements on Friday, November 1, 2019.
The army statement claimed that Abu al-Atta had prepared an immediate plot to attack in different directions against Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers, including infiltration training and sniper attacks, firing aircraft, and preparing rocket fire for various ranges.
He pointed out that the targeting was carried out based on accurate intelligence and high operational capabilities.
Netanyahu´s office said the operation was carried out on the recommendation of IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, the head of the Shin Bet security service, Nadav Argaman, and the approval of the cabinet.
He pointed out that a decision was made to assassinate Abu al-Atta on Sunday after the firing of rockets at Sderot the previous Friday.
The Israeli army announced the closure of roads that could be fired anti-tank missiles towards it.
