Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Atta in Gaza City, Nov.12, 2019. Palestine on Tuesday slammed Israeli killing of senior Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Atta and his wife during a predawn attack in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
RAMALLAH, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Tuesday slammed Israeli killing of senior Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Atta and his wife during a predawn attack in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian presidency condemned the "Israeli military escalation" against the Gaza Strip, describing it as a "hideous crime" in a statement published on the official Palestinian News Agency WAFA.
The presidency "called on the international community to provide protection for the Palestinian people everywhere."
In a brief press statement, Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said he held Israel "fully responsible for the consequences of this crime."
Meanwhile, government spokesperson Ibrahim Milhem said in a press statement that Israel was committing crimes through assassinating people in Gaza Strip in order to draw it to a new war.
Milhem said what Israel was plotting against Gaza may have grave consequences, urging the international community to intervene with providing protection for the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry held the Israeli government "totally and directly responsible for this aggression and its consequences."
It accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to make the Palestinians "pay the price of his internal issues," according to an emailed press statement.
The ministry said it has begun contacts with the Egyptian authorities and "a number of influential countries in the region and the world" to stop the escalation.
The Israeli army said in a tweet on its official account that they targeted Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza Baha Abu al-Atta, accusing him of being "directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. His next attack was imminent."
The army said its war jets continued to strike targets that belong to Islamic Jihad.
Netanyahu told reporters at a press conference that the Israeli forces "eliminated the main terrorist in Gaza," and that the operation had been planning for several days, warning that Israel will target anyone who tries to attack Israel.
Israel's Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said at the same press conference that Israel was not interested in an escalation "but are ready on the ground, in the air and the sea."
The airstrike on eastern Gaza city coincided with another Israeli airstrike that targeted the house of Akram Ajourni, member of the Islamic Jihad politburo in Syria. His son and his bodyguard were killed in the Israeli attack.
They didn't say if Akram had survived or got killed.
Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza responded with a barrage of rockets towards Israel.
Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades announced that its militants bombed Tel Aviv and settlements in southern Israel in response to the assassination of Abu al-Atta.
Gaza's resistance factions joint chamber warned in a statement that Israel "will pay a high price for its crimes," and vowed that the "resistance will be responsible and up to the challenge" in reference to a possible attack in reaction.
Baha Abu al-Atta, 42, a senior militant, leader of al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, and his wife were killed earlier Tuesday in an Israeli aerial attack on their house in eastern Gaza city.
Besides he and his wife, the health authorities in Gaza said that a third Palestinian was killed after an Israeli missile directly targeted him while he was driving a motor bike northern Gaza Strip.
The authorities said at least 18 others were injured as a result of Israeli attacks.
