Tel-Chai Nation

The IDF suitably killed the leader of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Israel National News says:

Early Tuesday morning, Israeli forces carried out a targeted operation eliminating Baha Abu al-Ata, a senior terrorist in the Islamic Jihad organization’s Gaza division.

But who was Abu Al-Ata, and why was he singled out as a target for the Israeli strike?

The 42-year-old chief of Islamic Jihad’s Al Quds Brigades’ Gaza Strip branch was considered one of the most radical terrorists in Gaza – even within Islamic Jihad - Abu Al-Ata was seen as a rising force within the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, due in part to his close ties with Tehran, and the decline in Hamas’ popularity in Gaza.

Under Abu Al-Ata’s watch, Islamic Jihad in Gaza has undertaken to obtain longer-range, more powerful rockets for its attacks on southern – and even central Israel.

A string of rocket attacks on Israel this year have been attributed to Islamic Jihad’s Al Quds Brigades - and Abu al-Ata.

Shortly after the operation which killed Abu Al-Ata and his wife, the IDF said that the Islamic Jihad terrorist was responsible for hundreds of terror attacks, adding that another one was imminent.

“Al Ata was directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. His next attack was imminent.”

Along with rocket attacks, Abu al-Ata was also responsible for a number of other terror attacks against Israeli targets, including sniper attacks on Israeli soldiers and the use of drone aircraft armed with explosive devices.

Now, as the Jewish Press notes, there's been over 150 rockets fired at Israelis:

Since the start of Tuesday morning, Gaza terrorists have launched more than 150 rockets and missiles at the State of Israel, according to the IDF.

Of those, the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system intercepted at least 60 of the projectiles whose trajectory was identified by the system as a threat to a major population center in the country.

Nevertheless, other rockets managed to get through. [...]

Three people in Ashkelon were injured in rocket attacks aimed at the city during the morning hours, two who suffered from shock and one who sustained mild injuries after falling while racing to a bomb shelter. All three were taken to Barzilai Medical Center in the city.

A man in his forties was treated for anxiety and a teenage girl was slightly injured while running to a bomb shelter in the port city of Ashdod, also during the morning. Both were taken to Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod.

As I've said before, its regrettable a ground invasion to smash the Hamas/Islamic Jihad cells still has not been carried out, and probably won't be even in the months ahead. It's good that the terrorist commander was wiped out. But that's still not enough.

Labels: anti-semitism, iran, islam, Israel, jihad, military, terrorism, war on terror