The 2nd militant member of the Popular Resistance Committees was wounded in the ‘surgical strike’.

An Israel Air Force craft targeted a motorcycle traveling in the Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, killing one militant and wounding another.

A Palestinian trying to extinguish a fire after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. – Photo by AP

According to initial reports, the attack was a surgical strike against a member of the Popular Resistance Committees militant organization.

An IDF statement released after the attack said that the assault was a joint operation by the army and the Shin Bet, adding that militant squad targeted belonged to a global Jihad organization.

According to the statement, the two men targeted in the strike were 22-year-old Ahmed Sayid Ismayil and 19-year-old Eyad Okel Hijazi.

The IDF said that Ismayil belonged to a militant group linked to the global Jihad movement operating in the Strip and in the Sinai, adding that he was involved in the June attack on the border with Israel that killed an Israeli citizen.

In addition, the IDF statement said that Ismayil and Hijazi were working on another attack against Israeli targets on the Egypt-Israel border.

The strike came amid a time of tense quiet along Israel’s border with the coastal enclave, one that is periodically interrupted by short bouts of fighting.

Late last month, Gaza militants fired four rockets into southern Israel, with two of the projectiles landing near the desert town of Sderot. No injuries or damage were reported.

The other two exploded in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. A 28-year-old woman injured her ankle while seeking shelter following the sound of the alarm and was evacuated to Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon.

Last week, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau urged Israeli tourists in Sinai to return to Israel immediately because terrorists are planning to abduct Israelis from the peninsula.

The agency said it issued the warning because it has received new intelligence indicating that Gaza-based Palestinian terror groups and organizations linked to Al-Qaida in Sinai are planning imminent attacks on Israeli tourists there. The terrorists’ primary goal is to kidnap Israelis, the agency added.

While it has issued similar warnings several times in the past, many Israelis ignore them, pressing forward with plans to enjoy a relatively cheap beach vacation.

“The Counter-Terrorism Bureau once again urges all Israelis in Sinai to leave the region immediately and return to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Thursday.

View original HAARETZ publication at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-air-strike-kills-palestinian-militant-riding-motorcycle-in-south-gaza-strip-1.456110