Israeli strikes kill two Islamic Jihad activists in Syria

Two Islamic Jihad fighters were killed in Damascus by Israeli air strikes on the Syrian capital, the organization announced on Monday (February 24th) in Gaza.

The strikes have been claimed by the Hebrew state. "In retaliation (for rocket fire), Israeli army fighter planes bombed Islamic Jihad targets south of Damascus," the Israeli army said in a statement after midnight.

INFO ALERT: We have just struck Islamic Jihad targets in Syria and Gaza in response to rockets fired at Israeli civilians today.

"Israeli military aviation (...) targeted the surrounding area of ​​Damascus with several rounds of missiles," said a Syrian military source quoted by the Syrian news agency Sana. The "majority" of Israeli missiles were "destroyed before reaching their targets" while others were deviated from their trajectory, the source said.

Raids in Gaza too

Israeli forces also bombed Islamic Jihad positions in the Gaza Strip overnight after a tense day in this impoverished enclave where two million Palestinians under Israeli blockade live. The bombing left several people injured, officials in Gaza said.

The Israeli army opened fire Sunday morning on "two terrorists" who "were trying to place an explosive device near" the barrier separating Israel from Gaza, a thin strip of land controlled by the Islamists of Hamas who fought three wars in Israel since 2008.

Hamas has benefited from a truce agreement with the Hebrew state for almost a year, unlike Islamic Jihad, considered the second largest armed Islamist group in Gaza.

Bulldozer

In the aftermath of these clashes at the border, "an army bulldozer recovered the body of one of the attackers", killed by Israeli forces, told AFP an army spokesperson.

AFP reporter on the spot said Palestinians approached to try to recover the body of the man whom the Islamic Jihad presented as one of its combatants, before an Israeli bulldozer picks up the inert body and returns towards the border barrier. Israel keeps the bodies of Palestinians for use as currency with Hamas, which also holds the remains of Israelis.

Calling to avenge one of its "martyrs", the Islamic Jihad launched more than twenty rockets towards Israel, some of which were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile shield according to local authorities who announced the closure, On Monday, schools in towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, there were no injuries in Israel.

With AFP

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