IDF Gets Tough – Third Strike in 24 Hours

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu


The IDF foiled a terrorist attack early Sunday in the third counterterrorist strike in 24 hours, sending a clear massage to Hamas.

The Air Force successfully targeted a cell preparing to fire at Israelis, an IDF spokesmen said. The latest counterterrorist measure killed at least one terrorist.

On Saturday, Air Force jets struck three terrorist targets in northern and central Gaza in retaliation for a Grad missile attack on Netivot Friday night.  

In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, the Air Force struck a second time in a significant counterterrorist action that eliminated two senior terrorists on motorbikes. They were identified as Jordanian national Sheikh Hisham al-Saedini, 43, also known as Abu Al-Waleed Al-Maqdissi, of the Mujahedeen Shura, and fellow Salafist Islamic terrorist Fayek Abu Jazar, 42. News services described him as an “activist.”

Saedini was one of the founders of the Mujahedeen Shura in Jerusalem. The terrorist group operated as part of the worldwide Jihadist war and was involved in several attacks and plots against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The Mujahedeen Shura carried out the January 2009 attack on an arty patrol, killing one soldier and seriously wounding an officer. The same terrorist group also planted dozens of bombs along the IDF patrol route at the Gaza security fence and also fired on soldiers.

Saedini at one time was jailed by Hamas for his activities in the rival terrorist organization but was released in August despite Hamas’s knowledge of his involvement in terrorism.

Israel’s counterterrorist actions have intensified the past week.

Before the three strikes in the last 24 hours, Israeli jets on Thursday raided a Hamas training several hours after Gaza terrorists fired two rockets into southern Israel.

On Wednesday, the Israeli air force struck targets in northern Gaza after rocket fire that was also claimed by the Mujahedeen Shura Council.

Earlier in the week, the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched a barrage of fire at southern Israel-- a day after the Air Force raided the southern city of Rafiah, targeting two global jihad activists, one of whom died. The other was critically wounded.

The continuation of Gaza rocket fire on Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists marked a rare show of force given that the two groups normally claim they observe a de facto truce.  

More than 480 rockets or mortar rounds have been fired at southern Israel from Gaza this year, according to the IDF.

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160845#.UHr_k1Eyn3U

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