Rasmi Abu Malhous, an Islamic Jihad terrorist said to head its rocket unit, was killed in an overnight strike on the Gaza Strip, an IDF Arabic-language spokesperson said on Thursday morning. The strike, which targeted a house in Deir al-Balah, reportedly claimed the lives of an additional five members of the same family.
IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee confirmed the death and tweeted a photo of Malhous.
Palestinian officials said 12 others were wounded in the airstrike. The Hamas-run Health Ministry had earlier said all of the fatalities in the strike were civilians.
Phone video shot by someone living nearby being circulated on social media showed neighbors and emergency workers frantically digging through the debris in search of bodies following the Thursday morning strike.
It was the deadliest incident since the beginning of the current fighting and brings the death toll on the Palestinian side to 32.
Israel says most of those killed were terrorists.
Terrorists in Gaza continued to fire rockets into Israel after midnight Wednesday even as an Israeli official indicated that Jerusalem was nearing a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
Opposition lawmakers on Thursday scorned a ceasefire reached between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in the Gaza Strip to end two days of intense cross-border fighting, saying the lull will just lead to another round of conflict in the future.
At least five rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel in the hours that followed the reported 5:30 a.m. start of the ceasefire.
“The goal of every terror organization is to disrupt daily life,” Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman, a former defense minister, told Army Radio. “And here again we saw a minor organization shut down one-third of the country. Today, too, it’s clear to all: The next round [of fighting] is only a matter of time.”
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said five rockets were fired at Israel, hours after the military confirmed a ceasefire had been reached with terror groups in Gaza.
In the following hours, however, the fragile ceasefire agreement appeared to stick, with no further violations of the truce recorded.
There were no reports of damage or injuries in the bombardment, which was launched at Netivot and Gaza-area communities.
The IDF earlier had confirmed that a deal was reached to end a two-day bout of violence that paralyzed large parts of Israel and is said to have killed 34 Palestinians, including 25 terrorists.
An IDF spokesman said the latest flareup of violence in Gaza, in which two Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders were killed and its terror group’s infrastructure was targeted, was dubbed Operation Black Belt.
BREAKING: Ceasefire broken. Multiple rockets fired now from Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/6tImhMYAcH
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 14, 2019
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said 34 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli strikes, including eight Palestinians from a single family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike at their house in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza. Israel says Rasmi Abu Malhous, an Islamic Jihad terrorist said to head its rocket unit, was killed in the overnight strike on the Gaza Strip in which the family members were killed.
Palestinian health officials have said 18 of those killed were PIJ fighters. Israel said at least 25 were members of the terror organization.
After the ceasefire appeared to take effect Thursday morning, the IDF defended its strikes on private homes in Gaza despite Palestinian reports of civilian deaths, including women and children.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said 34 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli strikes, including eight Palestinians from a single family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike at their house in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza. Israel says Rasmi Abu Malhous, an Islamic Jihad terrorist said to head its rocket unit, was killed in the overnight strike on the Gaza Strip in which the family members were killed.
Palestinian health officials have said 18 of those killed were PIJ fighters. Israel said at least 25 were members of the terror organization.
After the ceasefire appeared to take effect Thursday morning, the IDF defended its strikes on private homes in Gaza despite Palestinian reports of civilian deaths, including women and children.
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