Islamic Jihad commander killed in Gaza airstrike: Israeli army

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said Monday it assassinated Islamic Jihad commander Husam Abu Harbeed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

Military spokesman Avichai Adraee said Abu Harbeed commanded the Palestinian group’s northern Gaza division.

The spokesman said Abu Harbeed was allegedly responsible for anti-tank missile fire that lightly wounded an Israeli last week.

The Islamic Jihad movement has yet to confirm the Israeli claim.

At least 198 Palestinians have been killed, including 58 children and 35 women, in Israeli attacks in Gaza since last week, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 1,300 people have also been injured and tens of buildings destroyed or damaged in the Israeli offensive.

Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the seaside territory.

The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Ahmed Asmar in Ankara contributed to this report