Gaza City: Israel launched a wave of airstrikes in Gaza on Friday, killing at least seven people, including a senior militant, and injuring 40 others, according to Palestinian officials.
Israel said it was targeting him Islamic Jihadi The militant group amid days of tension following the arrest of a senior militant in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.
The attacks threaten to ignite another war in the region, which is ruled by the Islamist militant group Hamas and home to some 2 million Palestinians.
A senior terrorist would likely be killed by rocket fire from Gaza, pushing the region closer to an all-out war.
An explosion could be heard in Gaza City, where smoke emanated from the seventh floor of a high-rise building on Friday afternoon.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said seven people, including a five-year-old girl, were killed and at least 40 were injured.
Islamic Jihad said Gaza commander Taisir al-Jabri was among those killed.
The Israeli military said it was targeting Islamic Jihad in an operation called “Breaking Dawn”.
It also announced a “special situation” on the domestic front, with schools closed and other activities banned in communities within 80 kilometers of the border.
Israel earlier this week closed roads around Gaza and sent reinforcements to the border as it prepared for revenge following the arrest of an Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
A teenage group member was killed in a gunfight between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian extremists.
Israel and Hamas fought four wars and several minor skirmishes over 15 years, as the militant group seized power in the coastal strip from rival Palestinian forces.
The most recent war took place in May 2021, and tensions flared up again earlier this year after a wave of attacks inside Israel, nearly daily military operations in the West Bank and a flashpoint at the Jerusalem holy site.
“We are starting the fight, and the fighters of the Palestinian resistance will have to stand together to face this aggression,” Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhla told al-Mayadeen TV network from Iran. He said there would be “no red lines” in the confrontation and blamed the violence on Israel.
“The enemy of Israel, which has launched a war against Gaza and committed a new crime, will have to pay the price and bear full responsibility for it,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
Islamic Jihad is smaller than Hamas but largely shares its ideology. Both groups oppose Israel’s existence and have carried out several deadly attacks over the years, including rocket fire in southern Israel.
It is not clear how much Hamas controls Islamic Jihad, and Israel blames Hamas for all attacks from Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited communities near Gaza earlier on Friday, saying officials were taking “actions that would remove the threat from the region,” without elaborating.
“We will work with internal resilience and outward strength to restore regular life in the south of Israel,” he said, adding that “we do not seek conflict, yet we will not hesitate to protect our citizens if be necessary.”
Earlier on Friday, a few hundred Israelis protested near the Gaza Strip on Friday, demanding the return of a Hamas-held captive and the remains of two Israeli soldiers.
The protesters were led by the family of Haider Goldin, who was killed along with Oron Shawl in the 2014 Gaza war.
Hamas is still holding their remains as well as two Israeli civilians who wandered into Gaza and are believed to be terminally ill, hoping to exchange them for some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. hopefully.
Protesters pushed through two police checkpoints on a road near the heavily guarded Gaza border before stopping at a third.
They demanded the return of the soldiers’ remains as well as the return of Avram Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent in his late 20s or early 30s. Mengistu’s family took part in the protests.
In June, Hamas released a rare video that showed another captive, Hisham al-Sayed, an Arab national of Israel, in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask and IV drip.
It said that his health has deteriorated recently. Journalists covering the protests heard no mention of al-Sayed.
Israel and Egypt maintained a tight blockade across the region for that time.
Israel says it needs to be shut down to prevent Hamas from building up its military capabilities, while critics say the policy amounts to the collective punishment of two million Palestinian residents of Gaza.
Israel says no major steps can be taken to lift the blockade until the remains of soldiers and captive civilians are released.
Israel and Hamas have held several rounds of talks, mediated by Egypt, on a possible swap.
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