Israel claims killing of 2nd Islamic Jihad military chief

TEL AVIV: Israel’s army on Sunday announced that it has targeted another military chief from the militant organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad’s southern commander, Khaled Mansour, was killed in an airstrike in the city of Rafah, dpa news agency quoted the military announcement as saying.

Two other senior PIJ members were also killed, including Mansour’s deputy, it said.

“In recent days Mansour worked to carry out an anti-tank missile and rocket attack at Israel and was responsible for the planning of a terror attack in Israel along the border with Gaza which was thwarted by the IDF,” the statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

It said he was also responsible for terror attacks in the past.

The Israeli military had launched the large-scale operation dubbed “Breaking Dawn” against the PIJ on Friday.

The military chief Taisir al-Jabari and other PIJ members were killed.

The group, which is closely linked to Israel’s arch-enemy Iran, is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US.

On Saturday night, the army attacked several targets in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli border towns on the edge of the Gaza Strip were again on rocket alert on Sunday morning.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 29 people have died since Friday, and at least 253 have been injured.

Among the dead are six children and four women, in addition to other PIJ members.

Israel blames PIJ for the deaths of five children and one adult in the Jabalia refugee camp.

According to the military, they were killed by a misguided jihadi rocket.