Security official says Army of Islam members were planning huge terror attack; 8 Kassams hit w. Negev.
By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFFGaza air strike 224.88(photo credit: AP)
Five members of the Army of Islam - the group involved in the capture of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit and the kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnson - were killed Tuesday when an IAF aircraft targeted a car in the southern Gaza Strip, east of Khan Yunis.
According to Palestinian reports, among the dead was the commander of the organization, Muntaz Dughmush.
A security official told The Jerusalem Post that the five were in the midst of planning a massive terror attack to sabotage truce efforts.
Six other Palestinians were wounded in two more air strikes in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinians said. The IDF said it had targeted Palestinian terrorists.
Both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge the attacks, but said that last-minute truce efforts must proceed. Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that the Palestinians would not just "sit with their arms folded."
Another Hamas spokesman, Ismail Ridwan, accused Israel of trying to derail the cease-fire efforts, but added that his group remained open to a truce.
Islamic Jihad also said it was leaving the door open to a halt in fighting. The group added, however, that it would respond to the strike.
Some three hours later, four Kassam rockets fired from Gaza landed in the western Negev and a mortar shell also hit the area. No one was wounded and no damaged was reported.
On Tuesday night, four rockets hit the Sdeort area. No one was wounded by the impact of the rockets, but a 10-year-old boy lightly injured his leg when he was running to find shelter.
AP contributed to this report
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