Israel eliminates head of Islamic Jihad rocket program in Gaza Strip

Israel says that it has assassinated Ali Hassan Muhammad Ghali, the head of Islamic Jihad's rocket program in the Gaza Strip.

Ghali was killed in a strike in the early hours of May 11 on a residential building in the Sheikh Hamad neighbourhood of Khan Younis, according to the Israeli news website Haaretz.

According to the military spokesperson, in a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation, fighter planes attacked a building in southern Gaza, where Ghali was hiding.

"Ghali was considered a key figure in Palestinian Islamic Jihad," the statement said, "and took an active part in the recent barrage of rockets fired at Israel."

After the attack, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying that it "mourns its martyr and commander, Ali Hassan Muhammad Ghali, the head of the al-Quds rocket array, who was killed in a treacherous Zionist operation in Khan Yunis."

The statement said that Ghali was killed along with two other senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Earlier unconfirmed reports identified them as Ghali's brother, Mahmoud Hassan Muhammed Ghali, and Mahmud Walid Abdul Jawad. All three were members of the organization's military council.