Baha Abu al-Ata, the Islamic Jihad commander who was assassinated by Israel early Tuesday morning in the Gaza Strip, knew he was living on borrowed time. For the last few months, his name started appearing regularly in Israeli media, and he was labelled by the defense establishment as the main entity in charge of a recent string of rocket attacks emanating from the coastal enclave.
Al-Ata, who was not protected by the presence of any other civilians except for his wife, was killed in a strike carried out by Israel Air Force jets. Almost simultaneously, in a development that could turn out to be just as meaningful, reports emerged of an assassination attempt in Damascus attributed to Israel. There, too, missiles were fired from the air on the house of another senior Islamic Jihad official, Akram al-Ajouri. Reports said his family members died in the attack, although it remains unclear whether he did – at least according to Arab media reports.
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These two attacks have already sparked an exchange of fire between Israel and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. It hasn't been especially extensive so far, maybe because the Israeli air force threatens the cells in charge of providing missiles to those that launch them.
