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Israeli forces kill Islamic Jihad chief, sources say

  • Story Highlights
  • Islamic Jihad military wing deputy commander dead, Palestinian sources say
  • Deputy was also headmaster of United Nations school, sources say
  • United Nations Relief and Works Agency cannot immediately confirm that
  • Violence comes on same day that Hamas sources reportedly agree to calm
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- One person was killed and three were wounded Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a metal shop in Rafah, according to Palestinian security and medical sources.

A Palestinian inspects a car that was hit in an Israeli missile strike in Rafah earlier this month.

Israel Defense Forces confirmed the airstrike.

The person killed was the deputy commander of the Islamic Jihad military wing, according to the Palestinian sources, who said he also served as a school headmaster at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunnes said he could not immediately confirm that the person was employed by the United Nations, and added that staff members who bring politics into U.N. institutions are fired immediately for violating staff rules.

The IDF has in the past targeted metal shops it said were being used to produce rockets.

The violence came on the same day that Hamas sources reported that, in a meeting in Cairo, Egypt, it and other factions agreed to a Tahadiye, or period of calm.

The agreement will apply for the first six months to Gaza, and after that to the West Bank, under the condition that Israel stop its operations, the sources said.

Factions present at the meeting include Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committee, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Salah A Din Brigade, among others.

In response, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel seeks quiet in the south. For that to happen, Regev said, there must be an end to hostile fire from Gaza into Israel, terror attacks and armed smuggling.

If Israel's conditions are met, Regev said, "We could have quiet tomorrow." E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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