Israel killed a senior commander of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad in an air strike on his home in the Gaza Strip before dawn today. The group said Baha Abu al-Ata died there along with his wife.
Israel claimed that Abu al-Ata was a “ticking bomb” and that he was planning to launch more terrorist attacks upon Israel imminently.
In response, the terrorist group has fired around 70 rockets at southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, causing warning sirens to sound around many parts of the country.
Some chilling photos and videos have emerged, showing Israeli civilians sheltering at the side of roads, houses damaged by rocket hits and even a video of a narrow escape when a terrorist rocket landed on a highway just behind two cars.
Israelis shelter at roadside
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have issued instructions for schools to be closed in southern and central Israel, including the city of Tel Aviv. They have also forbidden gatherings of more than 100 people. But the advice is that people can go to work as long as there is a bomb shelter nearby.
The head of the IDF said that, as the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Abu al-Ata was effectively the man in Gaza who undermined the quiet in southern Israel.
Further terrorist rocket fire into Israel has taken the total to 150, prompting the IDF to launch more strikes into the Gaza Strip this afternoon, targeting underground facilities and training camps belonging to the terrorist group. Those underground facilities are said to have been used for the storage and manufacturing of weapons, and have cost large sums of money to construct.
The Israelis continue to be prepared for several days of fighting.