Israel killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders and at least nine civilians, including four children, in Gaza air strikes on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials, as the Israeli military said it had launched strikes against the group.
The air strikes were the latest in a year of escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, which has seen repeated Israeli military raids and escalating settler violence, as well as a wave of Palestinian street attacks on Israelis.
Last week saw a flare-up of cross-border violence following the death in Israeli custody of an Islamic Jihad hunger striker.
Israel’s military said it targeted three senior commanders of Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful armed group in the blockaded coastal enclave controlled by Hamas.
“Any terrorist who harms Israeli citizens will be made to regret it,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant promised.
In a “precise” operation, Israel’s military, in collaboration with the Shin Bet intelligence service, targeted the leadership of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, he added.
The military said 40 jets were involved in the strikes, which were timed to fit operational conditions.
“It was a convergence of intelligence, timing, and weather,” according to a military spokesperson.
According to a Gaza health official, at least 12 people were killed and 20 were injured in the strikes, which targeted residential areas in the densely populated strip of 2.3 million Palestinians spread across 365 square kilometres (140 square miles).
According to an Israeli military spokesman, the army is investigating reports of civilian deaths but has no immediate comment.
“We’re aware of some collateral, and we’ll learn more as the day progresses,” he said during a press conference.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad confirmed the three commanders’ deaths, adding, “We will not abandon our positions, and the resistance will continue, God willing.”
Jihad Ghannam, Khalil Al-Bahtini, and Tareq Izzeldeen were identified as the commanders killed by the group.
The military said it targeted ten weapon and infrastructure manufacturing sites, including rocket production workshops and a site for making tunnel concrete, as well as military compounds affiliated with the group.
Info source – Reuters