Israeli airstrike kills Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza

Ramallah: Palestinian group Islamic Jihad announced on Tuesday that one of its commanders was killed in an airstrike by Israeli forces on his home in the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday night.

Baha Abu al-Ata, 42, was killed with his wife in the airstrike that ripped through the building in Gaza City's Shejaiya district.

The statement by Islamic Jihad's armed wing came after Israel confirmed it had targeted Bahaa Abu al-Atta, in an airstrike.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) tweeted it has targeted Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu Al Ata, accusing him of being directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

A statement by Islamic Jihad's armed wing read that that strike killed Al Ata and his wife and injured two others. Without elaborating, the group said that al Ata was undergoing "a heroic act" when he was assassinated, reported Al Jazeera.

Separately, the Palestinian group said that Israel also attacked the home of one of its officials in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The Israeli military has said that the operation against Al-Atta was authorised by country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Abu Al-Atta was responsible for most of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's activity in the Gaza Strip and was a ticking bomb."