Baha Abu al-Ata, a member of the top brass of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been killed in an Israeli attack.
Israeli authorities confirmed the death of the senior leader and said that he was in the process of planning an imminent attack.
“Abu Al Ata was responsible for most of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s activity in the Gaza Strip and was a ticking bomb, " a statement from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) read in part.
PIJ has vowed to avenge the Israeli attack that killed its leader.
The group said to be the second-largest in Palestine is reportedly backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
PIJ confirmed in a statement to media outlets that Baha Abu al-Ata had been killed by the Israelis, describing the attack as cowardly assassination.
“Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, is mourning its martyr and one of the most prominent members of its military council and the commander of the northern region,” the statement read.
“We affirm that the response to this crime will have no limits and will be the size of the crime committed by the criminal enemy and that the occupation will bear the consequences of this aggression,” the statement continued.
Dozens of rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza in the wake of the attack.