A member of security forces walks past the home of Baha Abu Al-Atta after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Tuesday. Mohammed Salem/ Reuters
Israel killed a top commander for Iranian-backed Palestinian resistance group in a rare targeted strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
At least one other person, a woman, was also killed in the blast that ripped through the building in Gaza City's Shejaia district before dawn, medics said. Two others were wounded.
Israeli police said they closed some roads on the edge of Gaza as a precaution.
In a statement, the Israeli military said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorised the operation against Al-Atta, blaming him for recent rocket, drone and sniper attacks against Israel, and attempted infiltrations into the country.
An Islamic Jihad statement confirmed the death of Al Atta, who it said had been in the midst of “heroic action.”
“Our inevitable retaliation will rock the Zionist entity,” the statement said, referring to Israel.