An armed group says Hussam Abu Harbeed, one of its leaders in Gaza, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza has killed Hussam Abu Harbeed, a leader of Islamic Jihad, the armed group said.
The assassination on Monday provoked a fierce response from the group fighting alongside Hamas, the movement that rules the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Harbeed had been “behind several anti-food terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.”
Shortly after Harbeed’s assassination, Islamic Jihad said it had fired rockets at the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod.
At least three Palestinians were also killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City on Monday, doctors said, after a night of heavy Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli army said Gaza fighters had fired about 60 rockets at Israeli cities overnight, compared to 120 and 200 the previous two nights.
Hamas said its attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s “continued aggression against civilians” and called the civilian casualties “premeditated killings.”
At least 200 Palestinians, including 58 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the latest violence began a week ago.
More than 1,300 Palestinians were also injured.
