Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad confirmed that one of its leaders was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday. Soon after the news broke, multiple rockets were fired from Gaza towards southern Israel in apparent retaliation.

Germany's Foreign Ministry slammed the rocket fire "in the strongest terms."

"There is no justification for violence against innocent civilians," German officials said. "Now, the highest priority must be moderation and efforts to de-escalate."

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel said it had targeted Bahaa Abu el-Atta, 42, in a strike.

It was Israel's first high-profile killing of an Islamic Jihad figure since the 2014 war.

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Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu el-Atta at an anti-Israel military show

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Twitter: "We just targeted Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, Baha Abu el-Atta."

"(He) was directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers," and "his next attack was imminent."

'All terrorists think alike'

At a press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said el-Ata was "the main terrorist instigator in the Gaza Strip."

"All terrorists think alike. They think they can harm civilians and hide behind civilians. We have proven that we can hit with surgical precision," he said.

Islamic Jihad is an Iranian-backed group that often carries out attacks independent of Hamas, the much-larger militant outfit that controls Gaza.

The Iran-backed Islamic Jihad said the commander was performing "a heroic act" at the time of his assassination and vowed revenge as a result. It added that el-Atta's wife was also killed.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Mos' ab al-Briem said the strike was a "declaration of war against our Palestinian people."

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In another air raid later on Tuesday morning, an Islamic Jihad militant was killed in the Gaza Strip while riding a motorcycle. The Israeli military said he had been about to launch a rocket from the bike.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that three people had been killed and 18 others injured in total.

The airstrikes came days after the appointment of hard-line politician Naftali Bennett as Israel's defense minister. Bennett has long advocated tougher action against Palestinian militants.

But Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesperson, said the operation had been planned long ago.

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Retaliation

Israeli air raid sirens continued to go off throughout the morning as far away as Holon and Rishon LeZion, two suburbs of Tel Aviv. The IDF said Islamic Jihad was "firing rockets indiscriminately at civilians across Israel."

A rocket fired from Gaza slammed into a major junction in southern Israel, narrowly missing two cars. One of the two drivers was taken to hospital with shrapnel wounds, the Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service confirmed. An 8-year-old Israeli girl suffered a cardiac arrest while running to a shelter in Holon, the MDA added.

Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system shot down about 20 of 50 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, an IDF statement said.

Israel shut down crossing points into Gaza and reduced the permissible fishing area off the territory's coast to 6 nautical miles (11.2 kilometers) in anticipation of a looming confrontation. Schools were also closed in communities and towns along the Gaza Strip's boundary and all the way to Tel Aviv, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Gaza.

Syria operation

In a separate incident in Syria's capital, Damascus, Israel is reported to have struck a residential building housing a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad with two missiles, killing two people.

Syria's state-run news agency SANA said six people were killed in the early morning attack on Tuesday. A third missile landed in Daraya, a suburb of the capital, SANA said. It was not immediately clear if the Islamic Jihad commander, identified as Akram al-Ajouri, was among those killed in the attack.

A history of the Middle East peace process UN Security Council Resolution 242, 1967 United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, passed on November 22, 1967, called for the exchange of land for peace. Since then, many of the attempts to establish peace in the region have referred to 242. The resolution was written in accordance with Chapter VI of the UN Charter, under which resolutions are recommendations, not orders.

A history of the Middle East peace process Camp David Accords, 1978 A coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, fought Israel in the Yom Kippur or October War in October 1973. The conflict eventually led to the secret peace talks that yielded two agreements after 12 days. This picture from March 26, 1979, shows Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, his US counterpart Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after signing the accords in Washington.

A history of the Middle East peace process The Madrid Conference, 1991 The US and the former Soviet Union came together to organize a conference in the Spanish capital city of Madrid. The discussions involved Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestinians — not from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) — who met with Israeli negotiators for the first time. While the conference achieved little, it did create the framework for later, more productive talks.

A history of the Middle East peace process Oslo I Accord, 1993 The negotiations in Norway between Israel and the PLO, the first direct meeting between the two parties, resulted in the the Oslo I Accord. The agreement was signed in the US in September 1993. It demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from West Bank and Gaza and a self-governing, interim Palestinian authority be set up for a five-year transitional period. A second accord was signed in 1995.

A history of the Middle East peace process Camp David Summit Meeting, 2000 US President Bill Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to the retreat in July 2000 to discuss borders, security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem. Despite the negotiations being more detailed than ever before, no agreement was concluded. The failure to reach a consensus at Camp David was followed by renewed Palestinian uprising, the Second Intifada.

A history of the Middle East peace process The Arab Peace Initiative, 2002 The Camp David negotiations were followed first by meetings in Washington and then in Cairo and Taba, Egypt — all without results. Later the Arab League proposed the Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut in March 2002. The plan called on Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders so that a Palestinian state could be set up in the West Bank and Gaza. In return, Arab countries would agree to recognize Israel.

A history of the Middle East peace process The Roadmap, 2003 The US, EU, Russia and the UN worked together as the Middle East Quartet to develop a road map to peace. While Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas accepted the text, his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon had more reservations with the wording. The timetable called for a final agreement on a two-state solution to be reached in 2005. Unfortunately, it was never implemented.

A history of the Middle East peace process Annapolis, 2007 In 2007 US President George W. Bush hosted a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, to relaunch the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas took part in talks with officials from the Quartet and over a dozen Arab states. It was agreed that further negotiations would be held with the goal of reaching a peace deal by the end of 2008.

A history of the Middle East peace process Washington, 2010 In 2010, US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to and implement a ten-month moratorium on settlements in disputed territories. Later, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to relaunch direct negotiations to resolve all issues. Negotiations began in Washington in September 2010, but within weeks there was a deadlock.

A history of the Middle East peace process Cycle of escalation and ceasefire continues A new round of violence broke out in and around Gaza late 2012. A ceasefire was reached between Israel and those in power in the Gaza Strip, which held until June 2014. The kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 resulted in renewed violence and eventually led to the Israeli military operation Protective Edge. It ended with a ceasefire on August 26, 2014.

A history of the Middle East peace process Paris summit, 2017 Envoys from over 70 countries gathered in Paris, France, to discuss the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu slammed the discussions as "rigged" against his country. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian representatives attended the summit. "A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at the opening of the event.

A history of the Middle East peace process Deteriorating relations in 2017 Despite the year's optimistic opening, 2017 brought further stagnation in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A deadly summer attack on Israeli police at the Temple Mount, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims, sparked deadly clashes. Then US President Donald Trump's plan to move the embassy to Jerusalem prompted Palestinian leader Abbas to say "the measures ... undermine all peace efforts."

A history of the Middle East peace process Trump's peace plan backfires, 2020 US President Donald Trump presented a peace plan that freezes Israeli settlement construction but retains Israeli control over most of the illegal settlements it has already built. The plan would double Palestinian-controlled territory, but asks Palestine to cross a red line and accept the previously constructed West Bank settlements as Israeli territory. Palestine rejected the plan outright. Author: Aasim Saleem



dj, aw/msh (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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