Senior Israeli military sources have leaked information about the assassination of Tayseer Jabari, Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) commander in northern Gaza.
The assassination came at the start of the military campaign Israel launched against Gaza last Friday.
According to the leaks, the Israeli military deployed two new weapons, including a smart bomb, to destroy the apartment where Jabari was staying.
Sources said that accurate intelligence information about the presence of Jabari in the apartment arrived at eight o’clock in the evening on Thursday.
After confirming Jabari’s whereabouts, Israeli forces then put their assassination plot into action.
Jabari had been living for days in an apartment located on the sixth floor of the Palestine Tower in Gaza, which is a 14-storey building containing 28 spacious apartments.
Israeli intelligence had previously secured the blueprints for the tower. This allowed Israeli forces access to information like the thickness of the roof, the amount of iron in the concrete, the quality of the stones from which the walls are built.
Israeli forces used an innovative way to target Jabari so that the operation results in minimal damage to civilians in the building and area, according to the leaks.
They used a bomb which penetrated an empty room in the apartment on the seventh floor. The bomb exploded, destroying just the floor, and brought the ceiling down on Jabari, who was in the apartment below, killing him.
Seconds later, jets fired seven more missiles at the rooms of the apartment from different angles to kill any other targets inside.
The objectives of the assassination campaign were met within 170 seconds. The results were that Jabari was killed and 15 other residents from the tower were injured.
