UPDATE - 2 Palestinians martyred in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

UPDATES DEATH TOLL

By Ramzy Mahmoud

GAZA City, Palestine (AA) – Two Palestinians were martyred in a fresh Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, shortly after the killing of a resistance commander in the territory.

The army said a warplane targeted two Islamic Jihad operatives preparing to fire rockets into Israel.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Zaki Mohammed Adnan Ghanama, 25, was killed in the attack.

The ministry said a 20-year-old youth, who was identified as Mohammed Atiyyah Hammouda, was also killed, but without giving any details about the circumstances of his death.

According to the ministry, 18 Palestinians have been injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip.

The situation escalated in Gaza early Tuesday after Israeli forces killed Bahaa Abu al-Atta, the commander of resistance group Islamic Jihad, in an airstrike.

Israeli warplanes also launched an airstrike targeting Islamic Jihad member Akram al-Ajouri in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Two people, including al-Ajouri's son, were killed and ten others injured, but the Islamic Jihad leader emerged unhurt.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara