The Israeli occupation army announced on Tuesday that it had killed a senior military official of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Bahaa Abu Al-Ata was killed in what was described as a complicated joint operation with the internal security agency Shin Bet.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Abu Al-Ata and his wife Asmaa were killed in an Israeli air strike on their house in the east of Gaza City. It also confirmed that their children Salim, Mohammed Layan and Fatima, as well as their neighbour Hanan Hellis, were wounded in the same attack. All are in a stable condition in hospital.
In its own statement on the murder of Abu Al-Ata, Islamic Jihad also announced that a member of its Political Bureau, Akram Al-Ajjouri, survived an Israeli attack on his house in Damascus, although his son and a number of bodyguards were killed.
“These terrorist crimes are a new aggression against the Palestinian people and the declaration of a new Israeli war on them,” said the movement. It blamed the occupation authorities for any consequent escalation in the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli occupation crossed all the red lines with its new crimes which shattered all efforts being made towards the truce and tranquillity.”
Other Palestinian factions, including Hamas, Fatah and the Popular and Democratic Fronts, condemned the Israeli “aggression” and also blamed Israel for any escalation.
LIVE BLOG: Gaza in flames as Israel kills senior Islamic Jihad official
Senior Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu Al-Ata and his wife are killed following an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Senior Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu Al-Ata and his wife are killed following an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Israeli occupation planes target the house of senior Islamic Jihad figure Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Israeli occupation planes target the house of senior Islamic Jihad figure Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Israeli occupation planes target the house of senior Islamic Jihad figure Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Israeli occupation planes target the house of senior Islamic Jihad figure Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Israeli occupation planes target the house of senior Islamic Jihad figure Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Israeli occupation planes target the house of senior Islamic Jihad figure Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
Senior Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu Al-Ata is killed following an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]
The family of senior Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu Al-Ata mourn after he and his wife are killed in an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip on 12 November 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]