Israel kills Palestinian commander in Gaza

GAZA CITy: Israel´s military killed a commander of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a strike on his home in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, prompting retaliatory rocket fire and fears of a severe escalation in violence.

Israel launched air strikes in response to barrages of retaliatory rocket fire, with the Gazan health ministry reporting four people had been killed and 25 wounded in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel said it targeted Islamic Jihad training and weapons manufacturing sites as well as rocket-launching squads in the raids. The rocket fire into Israel caused damage and a number of injuries, with at least one rocket hitting a house and another narrowly missing passing cars on a highway.

A factory in the city of Sderot was also hit, sparking a fire there. Israeli medics said they had treated 39 people. Reports that a separate strike targeted an Islamic Jihad member in Damascus added to the day´s tensions. Islamic Jihad confirmed one of its officials, Akram Ajouri, was targeted in Damascus, with Syrian state news agency SANA reporting an Israeli strike hit Ajouri´s home, “killing his son Muadh and another person”.

Israel had not commented on that strike. The initial Israeli raid in the early hours of Tuesday, thought to have been carried out by a drone, killed Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu Al-Ata, 42. Islamic Jihad confirmed his death along with that of his wife. Israel blamed Ata for recent rocket fire into its territory and said he was preparing further attacks.