Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Israeli strike kills Islamic Jihad commander, prompting new wave of violence
Smoke rises after an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City today

ISRAEL sparked a new wave of bloodletting in Gaza today with a pre-dawn air strike that killed an Islamic Jihad commander and his wife.

Bahaa Abu el-Atta and his wife Asmaa were killed in the bombing. Four of their children and a neighbour were taken to hospital.

Israel also fired three missiles at a house in the Syrian capital Damascus belonging to another Islamic Jihad leader, Akram al-Ajouri. Mr Ajouri was not hurt but his son was killed, alongside a man identified as Abdullah Yousef Hassan, in what the Syrian government called “a heinous act.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings following an Israeli airstrike last night, at al-Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, July 16, 2026
Middle East / 16 July 2026
16 July 2026

While international actors discuss governance and reconstruction, Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel has no intention of ending its military occupation, says RAMZY BAROUD

NOT GIVING UP HOPE: MK Ofer Cassif at a protest in 2021. Pic: Shay Kendler/Creative Commons
Features / 7 October 2025
7 October 2025

ASSAF TALGAM talks to an Israeli Communist lawmaker about the need to use every tool of democratic and non-violent struggle; how Israeli society has changed since October 7 2023; and the persecution of the left in the parliamentary arena

RESISTANCE: Police officers disperse demonstrators blocking a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem yesterday
Features / 18 August 2025
18 August 2025

AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports on the Israeli national strike as thousands call for an end to the war

Druze militiamen ride a motorcycle past the site of an alleged Israeli army strike last week on the main road outside Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025
Features / 29 July 2025
29 July 2025

VIJAY PRASHAD looks at the web of militias and drug-trafficking gangs that emerged in the Sweida region through the Syrian civil war, and how they relate to recent clashes and Israel’s intervention