One killed, two injured in IAF strike on Gaza Strip

Islamic Jihad member who planned attack on Israelis during Sukkot holiday reportedly targeted in strike; passersby also injured

One man was reportedly killed and two others were injured on Saturday night in an IAF attack in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

The strike targeted Islamic Jihad members who had reportedly planned to carry out an attack against Israelis during the Sukkot holiday. They were said to belong to the Mujahideen Shura Council, an armed group linked to al-Qaeda.

A military statement said aircraft “targeted terror operatives” of a “Gaza-based global jihad affiliate” Saturday evening.

Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra said one man was killed and two others injured in the airstrike. Hamas said a security facility was hit, causing no injuries.

According to reports in the Israeli media, two of the men were riding a motorcycle at the time of the attack.

Overnight Friday, the IAF targeted terror activity sites in the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire on Netivot, in southern Israel.

A grad rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel Friday evening. The projectile landed in Netivot, near the Gaza border, in the yard of a house, near a Bnei Akiva religious youth center.

The attack came on the heels of a tumultuous week in which Hamas announced it had improved its rocket-launching technology to include up to six rockets at a time, and after dozens of rockets were fired at Israel — more than 50 of them on Monday.