Israelis kill jihad leader, 3 other militants
JERUSALEM – Israeli forces killed at least four Islamic militants in several airstrikes Thursday, including a high-ranking commander of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
The stepped-up military operations in Gaza came after a week of high-level diplomacy in Jerusalem intended to restart the stalled peace process.
One airstrike killed Omar Khatib, a top Islamic Jihad commander, his deputy and another fighter from the group as they were driving in central Gaza, Israeli military and Islamic Jihad officials said. Khatib was involved in an attack on a border crossing last month, Israeli officials said.
In a separate strike, the Israeli army killed Sharif Brais, a member of an armed faction affiliated with Hamas. An Israeli military spokesman said Brais was about to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at Israeli forces when he was killed. Palestinian officials said the Israeli forces had entered the Gaza Strip at Khan Younis.
Although Israel officially vacated settlements and turned over control of Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005, Israeli troops frequently conduct operations to root out militants inside the 140-square-mile strip on the border between Israel and Egypt. Fighters from Islamic Jihad and other groups often fire rockets toward Israeli towns on the other side of the border.
During the Israeli army incursion into Gaza on Thursday, several Palestinians were arrested and five others were injured in clashes, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
Israeli forces also arrested another top commander of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank town of Jenin, according to an Israeli army spokesperson.
Palestinian factions last month fought a bloody battle for control of Gaza, widening the schism between the Islamist group Hamas, which now controls Gaza, and the more secular Fatah movement, which has its headquarters in the West Bank.
Following Fatah’s defeat in Gaza, several high-ranking security officials have lost their jobs in the Fatah-led administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Thursday, national security adviser Mohammed Dahlan submitted his resignation to Abbas.
Since the Hamas takeover June 15, Israel has sought to undermine the Islamist group while propping up the embattled Palestinian president with money and goodwill gestures.
In recent weeks, Israel has released or given clemency to thousands of people affiliated with Fatah. At the same time, Israel effectively has put a chokehold on the Gaza economy by closing off the Gaza Strip to most people and goods.
Thursday, an Israeli newspaper reported that the Israeli government had allowed the passage of truckloads of weapons from Jordan to the Palestinian government in the West Bank, in effect helping to arm one side in the widening intra-Palestinian conflict. Fatah forces received more than 1,000 automatic weapons earlier this month, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
An Israeli spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the report.