The military said that all the airstrikes in the first wave targeted PIJ underground facilities used for storage and manufacturing of weapons and training camps. These sites were critical facilities for the group which invested large sums of money to construct.The second wave targeted training compounds, including one used by PIJ’s naval commando unit, the shaft of a cross-border attack tunnel and a tunnel digging site.

IDF tanks struck also two outposts and IAF jets also struck several PIJ militants preparing to launch long-range rockets.

Palestinian Wafa news agency said five Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the retaliatory airstikes.

None of the retaliatory strikes carried out by Israel targeted Hamas, the group the IDF tends to strike following violence from the Strip. Earlier in the day defense officials said that if Islamic Jihad restrained itself and Hamas did not join the rocket fire, Israel would also hold back from escalating and carry out retaliatory strikes against Hamas.

Early on Tuesday morning Israel carried out a precision airstrike in Gaza City killing Al-Ata, described by the Prime Minister’s office as a “senior Islamic Jihad commander” who master-minded “numerous terrorist attacks and rocket attacks against the State of Israel in recent months and who intended to immediately carry out further attacks.”

Israel said that the operation was launched to stop Al-Ata, who was in the midst of planning a series of attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, including preparations for sniper and kidnapping attacks, armed drone attacks, and rocket fire throughout Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi and Shin Bet Head Nadav Argamn made a joint statement from the Kirya Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv following the security cabinet meeting and urged citizens of listen to all warnings by the Home Front Command during the course of the day.

"Terrorists think they can hit civilians and hide behind civilians," the prime minister said. "We showed that we can hit the terrorist with minimal damage to civilians. Anyone who thinks they can hit our civilians and get away with it is wrong. If you hit us we will hit you."

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Kochavi said that while the military was not interested in a conflict in the coastal enclave, the IDF was preparing for an escalation of violence and that it would return to a policy of targeted killings if necessary.

"We are not interested in an escalation but we are ready - on the ground, in the air and at sea,” Kochavi said.

Al-Ata, he said, was the man “who undermined the quiet in southern Israel” and who “acted in every way to sabotage attempts for calm with Hamas. He was a living ticking bomb, and up until today worked and planned attacks. He was responsible for the majority of attacks that took place over the past year.”

Over 160 rockets were fired towards Israel on Tuesday morning after the IDF confirmed that it had killed al-Ata in Gaza in a “surgical airstrike.”

An hour after the strike, sirens were activated in numerous communities bordering the Gaza Strip as well as the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gedera. Incoming rocket sirens were also activated in the central Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion and Holon.

Several rockets made direct impacts on homes and businesses, causing first responders to treat 39 people, including two suffering from shrapnel wounds and an eight-year-old girl who collapsed while running for shelter in Holon. She was evacuated to Wolfson hospital in serious condition.

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman confirmed Tuesday morning that the military had received specific intelligence on al-Ata's location and targeted the specific room where he was sleeping, leaving the rest of the building untouched in order to avoid civilian casualties.

“Over the past few months the IDF warned several times, and in various ways, that he should stop his activities,” Zilberman said. “The Chief of Staff decided on this operation because there was no other way.”

The operation against Al-Ata was approved by the security cabinet led by Netanyahu, who also served as Israel’s defense minister until later on Tuesday. It was done after consultations with the IDF top brass in a joint operation with the Shin Bet.

“We stand behind the security forces, who have been working for the success of this morning’s operations for a long time," said President Reuven Rivlin in a statement. "I know that they, and the Israeli government that approved the operation, have Israel’s security, and only that, in their minds.

"This is no time for political squabbles, and those who do so bring no credit to themselves. It is the time to stop such statements immediately. Israeli citizens – please listen to the life-saving instructions of the IDF Home Front Command and take good care of yourselves.”

Islamic Jihad confirmed that al-Ata along with his wife were killed instantly in the airstrike which was carried out by one missile. Two of his children were seriously wounded and rushed to hospital, the terrorist group added.

Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad al Nakhaleh, based in Damascus, said in response to the assassination that Netanyahu has "crossed all redlines."

"We are going to war," Nakhaleh said.

The PIJ's Al-Quds Brigade declared that the terrorist group was on the highest level of alert after the assassination.

The Hamas terrorist movement warned as well that the assassination "will not go unpunished." Read more at JPost