Israeli aircraft conducted strikes on Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, the Israeli military said, and the group said three senior commanders and members of their families were killed in the attacks.
Witnesses said an explosion hit the top floor of an apartment building in Gaza City and a house in the southern city of Rafah. Airstrikes continued in the early hours, targeting militant training sites.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 12 additional people were killed in the airstrikes, although the IDF said that number stood at nine as of Tuesday morning. The PIJ claimed the wives of the three commanders and a number of their children were also killed.
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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. The bombings, codenamed "Operation Shield and Arrow," targeted Khalil Bahtini, the PIJ commander for the 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.
Video: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill three senior Palestinian armed group commanders / Reuters
Islamic Jihad, which is smaller than the dominant, ruling Hamas terrorist groups, confirmed that the three were among the dead.
The airstrikes come as tension boils between Israel and terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The tension is linked to increasing violence in the West Bank, where Israel has been conducting near-daily raids for months to detain Palestinians suspected of planning or carrying out attacks on Israelis. In anticipation of Palestinian rocket attacks in response to the airstrikes, the Israeli military advised residents of communities within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of Gaza to stay close to designated bomb shelters.
Last week, Gaza terrorists 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 PIJ in Israeli custody. The exchange of fire ended with a fragile cease-fire mediated by Egypt, the United Nations, and Qatar.
The airstrikes are similar to ones in 2022 in which Israel bombed places housing commanders of the PIJ group, setting off a three-day blitz that saw the group losing its two top commanders and other dozens of terrorists.
In light of the escalation, the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration announced a special Hotline for olim, run together with ERAN Emotional First Aid, an organization that provides anonymous and free service in five languages: Russian, Amharic, French, English, and Spanish. The organization said that people who "know of olim or returning residents who are experiencing hardship or emotional stress and need assistance in their language" they can call *3201 or use the organization's online chat.
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