Osama Hamdan, Hamas’ international relations officer, said that the latest Israeli assassination is an opportunity for all Palestinian factions to close ranks and leave differences behind, "today’s aggression was planned for some time by the Zionist enemy".

In an interview with Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel, Hamdan called for caution, expecting a wider Israeli assault on blockaded and besieged Gaza, "but this will not develop into an all-out ground invasion; not after the harsh lesson the enemy learnt in the last such invasion of Gaza".

Hamdan further pointed that the "Zionist enemy" has succeeded, through various means, to monitor a number of targets during Israeli incursions of Palestinian territories.

For his part, Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas leader and member of its political bureau, told reporters at Shifa Hospital, where Jaabari's body was taken, "You will soon witness Qassam’s responses, in action, not in words. Israeli occupation forces shed the blood of our people with impunity. It is time to put an end to this".