Tarek Azaldin, 49, another senior PIJ operative, had recently planned and directed multiple attacks against Israeli civilians, the IDF said.

Azaldin had moved up the ranks of the organization in recent years, and was entrusted with coordinating PIJ’s terrorist activities in Judea and Samaria as well as transferring funds from Gaza to Judea and Samaria, according to the IDF.

He was also in charge of distributing the group’s propaganda in Israel to promote and encourage terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

Azaldin had been incarcerated in Israel on a 25-year sentence due to his involvement in suicide and IED (improvised explosive device) attacks in the early 2000s.

Israel’s Channel 11 reported that he was released in 2011 as part of the Shalit prisoner-exchange deal.

He originally came from A’arbe in Samaria.

As part of “Operation Shield and Arrow,” the IDF also targeted 10 PIJ weapon manufacturing sites and military compounds.

These included rocket production workshops in Khan Yunis, a site used for manufacturing concrete for building terrorist tunnels, and six military compounds, most used as weapon warehouses and logistic infrastructures.

Additionally, the IDF targeted a military post belonging to PIJ in southern Gaza.

Although Hamas was not targeted in the attack, it released a statement Tuesday threatening Israel.

“As we hold the Zionist occupation and its extremist, fascist government fully responsible for the consequences of this heinous crime, we reiterate that the Israeli crimes and escalating terrorism against the Palestinian people will not go unpunished.

“The Israeli offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip will not bring peace and security to the Israeli occupation state, but would encourage more resistance until liberation and return.”