An Israel Air Force aircraft attacked a metal workshop in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing an Islamic Jihad top militant and wounding three other people, Palestinian officials said. The attack came as Palestinian militant groups agreed in principle to a cease-fire with Israel. Shortly before the air strike, Hamas' prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, had said the "ball is in the Israeli court" to keep to the terms of the truce.
The IDF confirmed the air strike in Rafah, a town located next to the Egyptian border. Residents said the air strike targeted a metal workshop close to border crossing with Egypt. Metal workshops are often used by militants to make homemade rockets. One witness said three helicopters hovered over the southern Gaza town and were fired at by Palestinian militants on the ground before the air strike took place.