Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed at least one Palestinian, prompting mortar fire into southern Israel just days after armed groups agreed to a temporary truce. The exchange of fire across the Gaza border raised fears of a fresh descent into violence scarcely 48 hours after militant factions agreed to end rocket attacks on southern Israel on condition the air force also stopped its raids.
Ismael al-Ismar, 34, a leader in the Al Quds Brigades - the armed wing of Islamic Jihad - died when a missile ploughed into his car in the southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, witnesses and the militant group said. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the strike, saying it had targeted "an activist linked to Islamic Jihad who was implicated in attempted terrorist actions in the Sinai."
Israeli public radio linked Ismar to last week's attacks on southern Israel's border with Egypt which killed eight Israelis. "(He) financed the attack in the south of the country last week and was responsible for financing a major attack that terrorists were planning to carry out in the near future," it reported. Several hours after Ismar's death, two mortar shells hit the Eshkol region, which flanks the Israel-Gaza border, Israeli police said.
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