IDF strikes Gaza terror cell, thwarts Sinai attack
Senior Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade operative killed in strike was involved in planning the attack, previous suicide bombing
By YAAKOV KATZHamas security forces survey car hit in IAF strike_311(photo credit: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
The IDF thwarted an attack from the Sinai Peninsula on Thursday after the Air Force bombed targets in the northern Gaza Strip, killing a number of senior terrorists involved in plotting attacks against Israel.Palestinians reported that two people were killed in the attack and at least two others injured.RELATED:IAF strikes tunnel used to infiltrate into Israel
The IDF said the cell that was targeted was planning to launch an attack against Israel from Egypt. One of the operatives. Sobhi Ismail Batash, a resident of Gaza City, was described as a senior operative in the al Aksa Martys Brigades and was involved in planning the attack. The IDF said that the terrorists were supposed to cross from Gaza in to Sinai, and then into Israel.Over the past week the IDF has been on high alert along the border with Egypt amid concern that terrorists were plotting an attack similar to the one in August when Palestinian and Egyptian terrorists crossed into Israel and killed eight Israelis.Batash, the IDF said, was involved in a 2007 attack when a suicide bomber crossed from Sinai into Eilat, blowing himself up and killing three Israelis. He was also involved in other attacks over the years that were thwarted.Palestinian funeral for Essam Al-Batsh and Sobhi Al-BatshThe killing of Batash marks the first time Israel seemed to target a specific individual it views as a terrorist leader since the IAF took out a Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) senior commander while he was riding his motorcycle in the Gaza Strip.Samed Abdul Mu'ty Abed was killed during a spasm of violence that broke out between terrorists in Gaza and Israel after armed gunmen carried out a cross-border terrorist attack north of Eilat that claimed the lives of eight Israelis.The PRC denied responsibility for that terror attack.Former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter warned that Islamic Jihad may try to return fire onto Israel, Army Radio reported Thursday."We're talking about a central figure. I wouldn't be surprised if they will try to to fire on us, even if only to show symbolically that they haven't given up," Dichter said.JPost.com staff contributed to this report.
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The IDF said the cell that was targeted was planning to launch an attack against Israel from Egypt. One of the operatives. Sobhi Ismail Batash, a resident of Gaza City, was described as a senior operative in the al Aksa Martys Brigades and was involved in planning the attack. The IDF said that the terrorists were supposed to cross from Gaza in to Sinai, and then into Israel.Over the past week the IDF has been on high alert along the border with Egypt amid concern that terrorists were plotting an attack similar to the one in August when Palestinian and Egyptian terrorists crossed into Israel and killed eight Israelis.Batash, the IDF said, was involved in a 2007 attack when a suicide bomber crossed from Sinai into Eilat, blowing himself up and killing three Israelis. He was also involved in other attacks over the years that were thwarted.
