The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is vowing a violent retaliation for the killing of the group’s leader in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Israeli military and security forces killed Ashraf Sa’adi, 28, and two of his aides in an operation on Wednesday morning.
The PIJ is warning Israel will pay a high price for its actions.
“The accountability bill with the Zionist enemy is increasing,” Abu Ahmad, a spokesman for the organization said on the PIJ website.
He vowed the response would be violent and shocking.
Palestinian news sources said two of the people assassinated were senior members of the PIJ-affiliated Al-Quds Brigades. The third person, a driver, was a member of the PIJ.
Israel said Sa’adi was responsible for numerous terror attacks against Israelis over the past two years.
Armed members of the PIJ and the Al-Aq’sa Martyrs Brigades gathered in the streets of Jenin for an “anger rally” after the killing and vowed revenge, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.
This was the second targeting of senior PIJ members in a week. The Israeli army killed 21-year-old Mahmoud Al-‘Ubeid in Jenin last Wednesday. The army said he had been wanted by the security forces for a long time for recruiting suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilians and for manufacturing explosives.
Meanwhile, Israeli army forces are continuing to engage in an anti-terror sweep in Nablus.