Israel kills Hamas military
chief By Al-Jazeera
correspondents
DOHA - A top Hamas
commander was among seven people killed in more
than 20 Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, as
Israel began an operation targeting armed groups.
Ahmad Jabari, the operational commander of Hamas's
armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was
killed on Wednesday alongside his bodyguard,
Mohammed al-Hams, in an initial Israeli strike on
a car in Gaza City which took place just before
4pm, the Islamist movement said.
Shortly
afterwards, Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with
another 20 air strikes, killing five more people,
two of them children, Hamas health minister Mufid
Mukhalalati said in a televised press
conference at Gaza
City's Shifa hospital.
He said another 30
people had been injured in the wave of strikes on
targets across the territory which hit Gaza City,
the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern
city of Khan Yunis.
"The Israeli
occupation has carried out more than 20 air
strikes on targets and headquarters of the police
and security in the Gaza Strip," Interior Ministry
spokesman Islam Shahwan said.
The attacks
on Wednesday marked the biggest escalation between
Israel and Gaza fighters since the 2008-2009
conflict and came despite signs on Tuesday that
neighboring Egypt had managed to broker a truce in
the territory after a five-day surge of violence.
Hamas said Ahmad Jabari died along with
his son when their car was blown apart by an
Israeli missile. Israel's Shin Bet domestic
intelligence agency and the military also
confirmed the operation.
"During a joint
operation of the General Security Service [Shin
Bet] and the IDF [army] today, Ahmed Jabari, the
senior commander of the military wing of Hamas in
the Gaza Strip, was targeted," a statement from
the Shin Bet said.
The military said
Jabari "was a senior Hamas operative ... directly
responsible for executing terror attacks against
the State of Israel in the past number of years".
The purpose of the operation "was to severely
impair the command and control chain of the Hamas
leadership, as well as its terrorist
infrastructure," it said in a statement.
'Start of operation' Military
spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said the strike was
the start of an operation targeting armed groups
in Gaza following multiple rocket attacks on
southern Israel. "The IDF started an operation
against terror organizations in Gaza due to the
ongoing attacks against Israeli civilians," she
said on her Twitter account. Leibovich confirmed
to Al-Jazeera that Jabari was targeted
specifically.
"The first target we
targeted was Ahmad Jabari. A short time ago we
completed another phase in the operation which
included 20 different targets of rocket launcher
pads," she said. "Israel is exercising its right
to protect itself, and Jabari has a lot of Israeli
blood on his hands."
She went on to say
that "there are 1.5 million people in Gaza, and
even though we were targeted on a daily basis, we
still helped Gazans in our hospitals because we
are humanitarian people."
Asked whether
Israel was ready to initiate a ground operation in
Gaza, Leibovich said: "All options are on the
table for us. We will do whatever necessary to
protect the people of Israel."
Responding
to the killing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades
said its fighters would "continue the path of
resistance". The occupation "has opened the gates
of hell on itself," it said in a statement.
Al-Jazeera's Nadim Baba, reporting from
Gaza, said Israeli strikes were still going on
into Wednesday evening. "We have been hearing of
strikes in different areas of the Gaza Strip," he
said. "For the civilian population here it is a
very worrying time. People have deserted the
streets, and it is very quiet and very tense."
He added that eyewitnesses have reported
seeing the Israeli navy off the coast of Gaza,
further increasing their concerns.
Calls for revenge Jabari headed
of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. He
co-ordinated much of Hamas's military capability,
its military strategy, and the transformation of
the military wing. He also led the final
negotiations in Cairo that concluded the prisoner
swap between Hamas and Israel in 2011.
The
killing of Jabari sparked furious protests in Gaza
City, with hundreds of members of Hamas and the
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades chanting for revenge
inside Shifa hospital. Outside, armed men fired
weapons into the air, and mosques throughout the
city called prayers to mourn the commander's
death.
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas
representative in based in Lebanon, talking to
Al-Jazeera in Doha, confirmed that Jabari's son
was also killed in the targeted air strike that
killed the military chief.
"We will
respond [to the assassination], this I have to say
clearly," he said. "The Israelis are working to
target the local leaders and political leaders in
Gaza. We are expecting acts and reactions from the
Palestinians."
Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian
negotiator based in the West Bank, told
Al-Jazeera: "We condemn this Israeli crime and
assassination of Ahmad Jabari. "We are witnessing
a major escalation against our people in Gaza, and
it seems to me the Israeli agenda is war, not
truce or a ceasefire. We hold the Israeli
government responsible."
Air
strikes Palestinian security sources and
medics confirmed a total of four air strikes
across Gaza during the late afternoon, two in Gaza
City, one of which killed Jabari, one in northern
Gaza, and a fourth in the southern city of Khan
Yunis.
Wednesday's attacks come after
several days of Israeli air strikes on the Gaza
Strip, leaving at least seven Palestinians dead
and several more wounded.
Al-Jazeera's
Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, said
Jabari had been a target for Israel for a long
time. "This is a big loss for Hamas, and a success
for Israel, who have been after him for a while."
she said. "We will see an escalation for sure
within the immediate future. People in Gaza know
him. He was considered very smart, very shrewd,
considered to be a hero because he had managed
until now to escape numerous assassination
attempts by Israel. People will be bracing for
more violence, not just against Hamas but against
the civilians too."
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