Approximately 360 rockets have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip since Israel’s targeted airstrike on Palestinian terrorist leader Baha Abu al-Ata, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Thanks to Israel’s Iron Dome System, however, more than 90% of those rockets have been intercepted.
An IDF spokesperson told The Daily Wire that Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, “visited the area of the Gaza Division with the Commanding Officer of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Commanding Officer of the Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, the Commanding Officer of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Eliezer Toledano and additional division officers.”
Kohavi has conducted a situation assessment in the field with those officers and was briefed on the current situation. Kohavi was also briefed on Israel’s preparations to counter future Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) threats, including the use of anti-tank and sniper fire.
In a series of press releases, the IDF announced its aircraft had “targeted a number of Islamic Jihad terror targets in the Gaza Strip.”
“Among the sites struck were several rocket launchers, located above and below ground, as well as an underground terror infrastructure and operations rooms of the Islamic Jihad terror organization,” one press release said. “In addition, earlier today, three terror operatives launched rockets at Israeli territory from the northern Gaza Strip. In response, a short while ago, an IDF aircraft targeted the operatives. A hit was identified.”
In another press release, the IDF said it had completed “an additional strike on Islamic Jihad terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip.”
“A primary rocket warhead manufacturing facility where rockets and unique raw materials used for long-ranged rockets are produced in the southern Gaza Strip was among the targets struck. In this strike, the IDF increased the rate of its attacks and the type of targets,” the IDF reported.
The IDF said that it also targeted the PIJ’s Khan Yunis headquarters — a weapons storage site. The site was in the home of Adam Abu-Hadayid, a PIJ operative in its rocket-launching unit.
The IDF Navy also targeted a PIJ naval commando unit vessel, which was used to train terrorists for future maritime attacks.
On Tuesday, The Daily Wire reported that the IDF killed al-Ata in a targeted airstrike at his home. The PIJ responded by launching more than 200 rockets to Israel.
The Left-leaning Amnesty International announced on Twitter that it was condemning Israel’s “attack on the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights whose office in Gaza was struck by an Israeli missile earlier this morning.” The organization said strikes “targeting civilian buildings is a violation of international law.”
Amnesty had to follow up that tweet by explaining there was “conflicting information” regarding the hit on the ICHR’s office after people said that it was not an Israeli airstrike but a misfired rocket from Gaza. Rather than apologize for immediately blaming Israel, Amnesty called for an impartial investigation into the situation.
This reporting blunder comes after the Agence Free-Presse declined to call al-Ata a terrorist in its tweets regarding his death. The AFP merely reported that a “Palestinian” was killed by Israel, giving the impression that it was an innocent civilian.
Update: Article updated to include newly released statistics from the IDF.