BICOM

Israel’s air force launched a strike yesterday on an Islamic Jihad cell in the southern Gaza Strip minutes after it had fired mortars at an Israeli patrol on the Gaza border.

Islamic Jihad confirmed that three men killed were all members of its armed wing the Al-Quds Brigades. An Israeli army statement confirmed the operation and said it was launched after the cell fired a mortar at Israeli troops, explaining, “An IAF [Israel Air Force] aircraft responded immediately in order to prevent further attacks on Israeli civilians and targeted the terrorist squad. Direct hits were confirmed.”

Since the start of 2014, there has been a sharp increase in rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel, with 33 rockets fired in January and further attacks on IDF border patrols. Last night, a rocket fired from Gaza landed in an open area in the Shar Hanegev region of southern Israel. No injuries or damage was reported. Although many of the recent attacks are thought to have been carried out by independent Islamist groups, Israel holds Hamas responsible for the violence, as it has administered the Gaza Strip since violently overthrowing the Fatah faction in 2007.

In a separate incident yesterday, Hamas announced that four members of its Izz a-Din Al-Qassam military wing were killed due to what Hamas officials termed a “work accident” in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. AP reports that the four men were killed in an explosion while preparing a bomb. Israeli media reports say the blast occurred during a training session on producing explosives.

Also yesterday, an Israel Air Force drone malfunctioned and crashed in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel’s military uses the unmanned drones to gather intelligence in Gaza. AP says that the Skylark model which crashed has safeguards to prevent disclosure of information, but Haaretz reports that Israel’s military nonetheless decided to ground the system until an investigation has been completed.