Islamic Jihad Vows Rapid Response to the ‘Israeli’ Assassination of Its Leaders

By Al-Ahed News

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement released a statement commenting on the ‘Israeli’ assassination of three of its leaders in the besieged Gaza Strip, holding the ‘Israeli’ enemy fully responsible for this massacre that exceeded all limits and violated the ceasefire.

The Palestinian response to this heinous massacre won’t be late, the statement read, underlining that Al-Quds Brigades and all resistance factions won’t remain negligent in front of the bloods of the martyrs.

“The enemy won’t achieve its goal behind this crime, as the resistance is united and its stances are constant,” the Islamic Jihad added.

The statement further underscored that the movement will be more determined to continue its path and fulfill its sacred duties in confronting the enemy.

Behind the Al-Quds Brigades there are daring leaders and soldiers who shoulder the responsibility and are determined to fight and exhaust the enemy on all fronts, the movement concluded.

Three senior Islamic Jihad commanders, their wives, some of their children, and other civilians were assassinated by the ‘Israeli’ occupation military on Tuesday at dawn.

The ‘Israeli’ warplanes launched a series of targeted strikes on the Gaza Strip, days after a fiery flare-up of violence set the besieged coastal enclave on edge.

So far, 13 Palestinians have been martyred, and more than 20 injured due to the raid that targeted Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Yunis, among other locations.

The Zionist military said in a statement that the Islamic Jihad resistance commanders in the strikes include Khalil Bahtini, the commander of the al-Quds Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, Tareq Ezzedine, a spokesperson for the movement who also manages retaliatory operations in the West Bank and Gaza, and Jihad Ghanem, secretary of the movement’s military council.

Following the onset of air raids, dubbed ‘Operation Shield and Arrow,’ Zionist war minister Yoav Gallant declared a “special situation at the top” and approved the call-up of reservists “for required roles according to needs.”

Highways were closed around the Gaza Strip border, railway traffic south of the city of Ashkelon was halted, and special instructions were issued by the Home Front Command to the public.

According to the ‘Israeli’ military, Bahtini was the most senior operational commander in the Islamic Jihad and was responsible for the rocket fire toward occupied territories in the past month. Bahtini was apparently planning further rocket fire in the near future.

Ezzedine was responsible for the communications between the movement and its branches in the West Bank and for transferring funds and coordinating resistance active in the occupied lands.

Ghanem was one of the most senior and veteran operatives in Islamic Jihad and served at one point as the commander of the al-Quds Brigades in the southern Gaza Strip.