The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization blamed Israel for the assassination of Ali Ramzi al-Aswad on Sunday.
Aswad, a 31-year-old engineer and long-time member of the PIJ, was shot and killed in a Damascus suburb on Sunday morning.
The Gaza-based terror group called the killing a “cowardly assassination bearing the fingerprints of the Zionist enemy.” No proof for Israeli involvement was offered and Israeli officials have not commented on Aswad’s death.
In a possible reference to Aswad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his opening remarks at Sunday’s cabinet meeting that Israel would “get to the terrorists and the architects of terror everywhere.”
“Our forces are working around the clock to deal with the terrorists and thwart terror infrastructure. Dozens of terrorists were killed in the last month; many others were arrested. I repeat: All those who try to harm the citizens of Israel, they will pay with their lives,” said Netanyahu.
Palestinian terror groups in Gaza fired a rocket at southern Israel on Saturday night. The rocket caused no damage. It came amidst the backdrop of an Israeli military raid in Jenin in which four Palestinians — including Nidal Hazem of the PIJ and Yusef Shreim of Hamas were killed.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian security officials are meeting with Egyptian and Jordanian security officials in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh in an effort to defuse an expected escalation of Palestinian violence during Ramadan.
The Israeli delegation is being led by Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.
The meeting follows up on February’s Aqaba summit. That meeting centered on a US proposal to train 5,000 Palestinians to form a counter-terror force that would specifically operate in Jenin and Shechem (Nablus). But the Palestinian Authority has not embraced the plan.
The Islamic month of Ramadan begins on Wednesday night.
In an ongoing sweep against terror in Judea and Samaria, the Israel Defense Forces have thwarted 500 terror attacks and arrested more than 2,500 suspects. Operation Wave Breaker was launched following a surge of Palestinian terror attacks which began in the spring of 2022 around Ramadan, which killed 19 people.