The IDF vows to keep targeting senior Islamic Jihad commanders but says it waited two days to kill the deputy head of the rocket force because he was using human shields.
Head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, says the military will continue with targeted killings of members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, after the latest strike killed a senior member.
“We started with the [senior] command in the opening strike. From there we continued for a second attack last night where we killed the head of the rocket array. And now we killed his deputy,” Toledano tells reporters.
He says Ali Ghali, who was killed last night, and Ahmad Abu Deka, who was killed a short while ago, are both “responsible for the rockets.”
“The important idea is to reach those people who make use of human shields to protect themselves from us, and conduct fighting from urban areas,” Toledano says.
“There is a very impressive work here by our intelligence, with an emphasis on the Shin Bet, extraordinary work by the Air Force,” he adds.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagarai adds that the military was watching Abu Deka for two days before targeting him.
“We were waiting for him to be separated from the family he used as a human shield,” Hagari says.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 11, 2023
