At least 12 folks have been killed, together with ladies and kids, as Israel launched a collection of airstrikes within the blockaded Gaza Strip early Tuesday.
Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the presence of girls and kids among the many lifeless however didn’t instantly give additional particulars on the identification of the victims.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist in Gaza noticed the highest of a constructing on hearth instantly after the strikes in addition to ambulances evacuating victims.
The Israeli military claimed it had focused three leaders of the Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group and hit “weapon manufacturing sites” belonging to the group.
Army spokesperson Richard Hecht informed journalists the drive “achieved what we wanted to achieve” within the in a single day strikes, which he mentioned concerned 40 plane.
The armed group confirmed three of its senior officers have been killed, naming them in an announcement as Jihad Ghannam, secretary of the Al-Quds Brigades navy council, and Khalil al-Bahtini, additionally of the council and commander of the navy wing in northern Gaza.
The third, Tareq Ezzedine, was described by Islamic Jihad as “one of the heads of military action” within the occupied West Bank who operated from Gaza.
In Rafah, within the south of the Gaza Strip, an AFP photographer noticed the physique of a person recognized as Ghannam.
“We mourn the leaders and their wives and a number of their children who were killed in a cowardly Zionist crime,” Islamic Jihad mentioned in an announcement, vowing “the blood of martyrs will increase (the) resolve” of the motion.
An AFP photographer noticed a boy’s physique within the morgue of Gaza City’s Shifa hospital, the place mourners had gathered.
Asked by journalists about baby casualties, Hecht mentioned, “If there were some tragic deaths we’ll look into it.”
Explosions from air strikes, which started a little bit after 2 a.m. (11 p.m. GMT), may very well be heard for practically two hours, based on AFP journalists.
The operation got here lower than every week after Islamic Jihad introduced a truce round Gaza – brokered with assist from Egypt – following a recent flare-up in violence.
Israel and Gazan armed teams traded cross-border hearth following the loss of life in Israeli detention of Khader Adnan, who had been on starvation strike for 87 days following his arrest over ties to Islamic Jihad.
On Tuesday, the armed group mentioned Israel had “scorned all the initiatives of mediators” and vowed it might “avenge the leaders” killed within the newest airstrikes.
‘Treacherous operation’
In separate statements detailing every of the Islamic Jihad figures killed, the Israeli military affirmed it might “continue to operate for the security of the civilians in the state of Israel.”
The navy offered Ghannan as “one of the most senior members of the organization” who was entrusted with coordinating weapons and cash transfers between Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Bahtini was “responsible for the rocket fire toward Israel in the past month,” Israel mentioned.
Ezzedine was lately “planning and direction (sic) multiple attacks against Israeli” civilians within the West Bank, the place he was from, and which has been occupied by Israel because the 1967 Six-Day War.
He was sentenced to 25 years in jail by Israel for his involvement in suicide assaults within the 2000s, earlier than being freed in a 2011 prisoner change and transferred to Gaza, based on the military.
Hecht mentioned the navy was “looking where this thing will develop”, with the military instructing Israeli residents inside 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the Gaza border to remain close to bomb shelters till Wednesday night.
In an announcement, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh mentioned, “Assassinating the leadership in a treacherous operation will not bring security to the occupier, but instead greater resistance.”
The armed group’s spokesman, Hazem Qassem, warned that Israel “bears responsibility for the repercussions of this escalation.”
Israel and Gazan armed teams have fought a number of wars since Hamas took management of the Palestinian enclave in 2007.
A 3-day battle final August in Gaza triggered 49 Palestinian fatalities and none on the Israeli aspect.
Tuesday’s casualties deliver to 120 the variety of Palestinians killed within the Israeli-Palestinian battle up to now this 12 months.
Nineteen Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed over the identical interval, based on an AFP rely based mostly on official sources from the 2 sides.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
