Israel air strike: In a latest development, Israeli aircraft launched strikes on Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip on early Tuesday. According to the Israeli military, at least three senior commanders and members of their families were killed in the attacks.
The Palestinian Health Ministry claimed at least 13 people were killed and injured in the airstrikes but he refused to elaborate further. Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad said the wives of the three commanders and a number of their children were also killed.
The Israeli army said the aerial bombings were directed at the residences of three senior commanders of the Iranian-backed group. It added the three were responsible for recent rocket fire toward Israel.
'Operation Shield and Arrow'
The bombings, codenamed “Operation Shield and Arrow,” targeted Khalil Bahtini, the Islamic Jihad commander for northern Gaza Strip; Tareq Izzeldeen, the group’s intermediary between its Gaza and West Bank members; and Jehad Ghanam, the secretary of the Islamic Jihad’s military council.
Islamic Jihad, which is smaller than the dominant, ruling Hamas movement, confirmed that the three were among the dead.
The airstrikes come as tension boils between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. The tension is linked to increasing violence in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has been conducting near-daily raids for months to detain Palestinians suspected in planning or carrying out attacks on Israelis.
ALSO READ: Israel launches airstrikes in Gaza Strip, Lebanon following barrage of rocket fire
Tension mounts between Israel and Palestine
In anticipation of Palestinian rocket attacks in response to the airstrikes, the Israeli military advised residents of communities within 40 kilometres of Gaza to stay close to designated bomb shelters.
Last week, Gaza militants fired several salvos of rockets toward southern Israel, and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes following the death of a hunger-striking senior member of the Islamic Jihad in Israeli custody. The exchange of fire ended with a fragile cease-fire mediated by Egypt, the United Nations, and Qatar.
(With AP inputs)
