IDF: Air force strikes global jihad terrorist in Gaza

Army claims terrorists were planning attack against Israeli targets along border with Egypt; Shin Bet says target was part of group responsible for June bombing; Netanyahu: Our long arm will reach those who try to harm us.

By YAAKOV KATZ, HERB KEINON
Body of Eid Hjazi (photo credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Body of Eid Hjazi
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
The Israeli Air Force bombed a motorbike in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, striking a global jihad terrorist who the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said had been plotting a terror attack along the Egyptian border for weeks. Palestinian hospital officials said the man, Ahmed Ismail, 22, was seriously injured, and his assistant, Eid Okel Hjazi, a 19-year-old from Rafah, was killed.
Security sources said the terrorist was Ahmed Said Ismail, 22, from the Gaza Strip. They said he was part of the group that carried out the attack in June that killed an Israeli workman, and was in the midst of planning another attack against Israel along the border.
Security sources said it was possible the strike thwarted the terror attack. IDF spokesman Brigadier Gen. Yoav Mordechai said they were in the "advanced and final stages of launching an attack on the Eilat - Egyptian border."
Military sources added that global jihad elements were taking advantage of regional instability, in particular in Egypt and Syria, to create infrastructure that can be used to attack Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement praising the IDF and the Shin Bet for the "precise operation" in Gaza.
"All those who intend to harm us should know our long arm will reach them," he said.
Israel is increasingly concerned with the presence of global jihad operatives in the Sinai Peninsula and their ties with Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Several terror cells are believed to consist of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as well as global jihad operatives from various Arab countries throughout the Middle East.
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.