Islamic Jihad blames Israel for Gaza escalation

After Israeli strikes killed two Islamic Jihad members in the Gaza Strip, the movement has come out accusing Israel of escalation, in what it says is an attempt to fuel intra-Palestinian conflict.
A Palestinian man looks out a window beside bloodstains on the wall of a house at the scene of an Israeli air strike in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip January 22, 2014. Israel killed two Gaza gunmen in an air strike on Wednesday, blaming one of them for firing rockets across the border during former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's funeral last week. Islamic Jihad claimed one man, Ahmed Al-Za'anin, as its own, without immediately commenting on the other's affiliation. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZ
A Palestinian man looks out a window beside bloodstains on the wall of a house at the scene of an Israeli air strike in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Jan. 22, 2014. - REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
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Asmaa al-Ghoul
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The United States has added the deputy secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, to the list of "terrorist organizations and individuals," according to a statement issued by the US State Department on Jan. 23.

The statement, published by the State Department on its website, said that Nakhalah was added on the terrorism list because he has stood behind attacks against Israel. The statement also noted his "strong relations with the Government of Iran, the world's primary State Sponsor of Terrorism."

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