Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel, after numerous Palestinian rocket attacks, has
renewed target killings in the Gaza Strip.

On April 30, the Israel Air Force fired an air-to-ground missile that
killed a leading Islamist commander in the Gaza Strip. The casualty,
identified as Hitham Masha’al, was identified as a rocket specialist for the
Al Qaida-aligned Beit Al Maqdes militia, which has taken responsibility for
attacks on Israel.

Beit Al Maqdes was said to operate rocket squads in both the Gaza Strip
and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. In April, the group claimed responsibility
for rocket attacks on Israel’s southern port city of Eilat and the Negev
desert.

The 24-year-old Masha’al was said to have worked as a security guard at
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Reports from the Gaza Strip said Masha’al was killed as he was riding his motorcycle near the Shait refugee camp outside Gaza City.

Officials said this marked the first target killing by Israel since the
mini-war with Hamas in November 2012. The conflict was ended by an
Egyptian-arranged ceasefire that included the cessation of Israeli military
operations in the Gaza Strip.

After two months of a near-total ceasefire, Palestinian gunners linked
to Al Qaida-aligned and other militias have renewed daily missile and rocket
strikes on Israel. On April 29, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned
that Israel would respond harshly to the attacks.

Palestinian sources said the Hamas regime has deployed troops near the
Israeli border to stop Palestinian rocket squads. They said Hamas has
detained some 30 Salafist operatives amid attacks on Israel.

  Beit Al Maqdes militia, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hitham Masha’al, Israeli air strike in Gaza kills Islamist rocket specialist