Iran-Backed Islamic Jihad Declares Total War on Israel

The Times of Israel reports: Palestinian Islamic Jihad declared Tuesday that it was preparing for war with Israel after the IDF carried out a dawn assassination of one of the terror group’s senior leaders in the northern Gaza Strip.

“These terrorist crimes are aggression and a declaration of war on the Palestinian people, and the enemy bears for responsibility for them,” PIJ said in a statement following Israel’s targeted killing of Baha Abu al-Ata.

“The Al-Quds Brigades [PIJ’s military wing] and the valiant resistance, which announced a mobilization [of its fighters] and started to hit back against this aggression and terrorism, will continue to forcefully and courageously defend the dignity of the Palestinian people,” it said.

According to the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu al-Ata, 42, was “one of the most prominent members of its military council and the commander of the northern part of the [Gaza Strip].”