HAARETZ (Israel), BBC NEWS (UK), REUTERS
GAZA – An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed one Palestinian and wounded two others on Tuesday, in the first targeted attack since last November’s ceasefire.
The victim, identified by locals as 29-year-old Haitham Misshal, was hit while riding his motorbike in the north of the Gaza strip. He was believed to be a member of Hamas, but Reuters added he could have also been a Jihadist Salafi militant, according to relatives.
Israeli Defense Forces said he was a Global Jihad militant, who was an expert in weapons production, and suspected of being involved in the April 17 rocket attack on the southern Israeli city of Eilat, Haaretz reports.
This is the first targeted attack by the Israeli Forces since last year’s Pillar of Defense Operation, which ended in November 2012. A spokesman for Hamas said the killing of Misshal in this airstrike was “a serious violation of the ceasefire”, the BBC reports.
Shortly after the attack, a Jewish settler was killed by a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, in the first such incident since 2011. According to Reuters, the two events were unrelated.
