Israeli Air Strike Kills Palestinian Militant in Gaza

First targeted killing of the year

The Israel Air Force killed a global jihad militant in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first targeted assassination since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.

Hitham Ziyad Ibrahim Mishal, 24, was a resident of Shati, a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. According to the Shin Bet, Mas'hal was "a cornerstone of terrorism in the Gaza Strip, specializing in arms." He is said to have manufactured, improved and traded in various weapons, especially rockets and improvised bombs, which he passed on to different terrorist groups in Gaza, both for economic profit and to promote terrorism. After the strike, the IDF called him "an expert in arms manufacturing who worked with all the terrorist outfits in the Gaza Strip."