JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli airstrike hit an alleged Palestinian terrorist riding on a motorcycle in Gaza City.
Abdallah Kharti and another man were injured in the missile strike on Sunday morning, the Palestinian Maan news service reported.
Kharti was described in a statement from the Israel Defense Forces spokesman’s office as “a key Popular Resistance Committees operative, affiliated with global Jihad.”
Israel’s Shin Bet security service said he was involved in two rocket attacks from Gaza last month. He also reportedly was involved in several rocket attacks in which Israelis were killed or injured.
“The IDF operated in order to eliminate an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli civilians,” the IDF said in a statement issued Sunday.
Since the beginning of this year, 33 rockets have been launched from Gaza at Israeli territory, according to the statement. On Saturday evening, a rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel, with no injuries or damage reported. Two nights earlier, a rocket landed in an open field in Ashkelon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the attack at the start of Sunday’s regular Cabinet meeting.
“Our resolute policy against terrorism may be summed up in a single principle: Whoever attacks us or plans to attack us will bear the consequences,” he said.
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