BICOM

One member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organisation was killed and two others wounded in a strike by the Israeli Air Force on the border area between Israel and the Gaza Strip, in the early hours of this morning. The three were preparing to fire rockets at Israel when the airstrike was carried out. The incident was part of a larger clash that began when Islamic Jihad gunmen attacked an IDF force deploying in a buffer zone east of Gaza City.

The action by the IDF troops was a routine patrol, of a type often carried out in this area in order to search for explosives. A statement later issued by the IDF Spokesmans’ Office said that Israel would ‘continue to take action against those who use terror against the state of Israel.”

Islamic Jihad also issued a statement following the incident, conforming that the dead man and the wounded were all members of the organisation.

This incident was the latest in a number of clashes that have taken place between Israeli forces and gunmen of the Islamic Jihad organisation in recent weeks. Last month, 10 members of the organisation and an Israeli civilian were killed in exchanges of fire that began following Islamic Jihad missile attacks on civilian communities.

The Islamic Jihad organisation is closely aligned with Iran and Syria, and does not consider itself obligated by the tacit ceasefire that has largely pertained between Israel and the ruling Hamas organisation in Gaza since Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9.