Israel attacked Gaza with warplanes yesterday, killing at least 15 people including a commander of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad and a young girl.
Taysir Al Jabari, a commander of the Al Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad, died in an air raid on an apartment in the Palestine Tower in the centre of Gaza City, the group said.
The health ministry in Gaza said at least 15 people were killed including Al Jabari and a five-year-old girl. At least 44 people were wounded and being treated in hospitals as a result of the Israeli raids.
Israel said it was targeting the Islamic Jihad group in response to an “imminent threat” following the arrest of another senior militant in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.
Smoke poured out of the seventh floor of the building in Gaza City. Civil defence teams rushed to the scene to evacuate people and put out a fire caused by the attack.
Later, Palestinian militants in Gaza fired dozens of rockets into Israel in response to the strikes. As darkness fell, Israeli authorities said sirens had been sounded in southern and central areas, while images broadcast by Israeli television stations appeared to show a number of missiles being shot down by air defence systems. In Tel Aviv, witnesses said they could hear booms but there were no reports of sirens.
Islamic Jihad said it had fired more than 100 rockets yesterday into Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv. Israel’s ambulance service said there were no reports of casualties.
In a statement, the Islamic Jihad said: “The enemy has begun a war targeting our people, and we all have the duty to defend ourselves and our people, and not allow the enemy to get away with its actions which are aimed at undermining the resistance and national steadfastness.”
As mourners prepared to hold funerals for those killed in the attacks, hundreds marched through the streets of Gaza, while queues formed outside bakeries and supermarkets as people stocked up on food and staples.
United Nations special co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, warned that the “dangerous” escalation risked creating the need for more aid at a time when world resources were stretched by other conflicts.
“The launching of rockets must cease immediately, and I call on all sides to avoid further escalation,” he said.
Egypt said it was mediating between Israel and Palestinians.
The strikes came a little more than a year after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021, which killed at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel and left the blockaded enclave’s economy shattered.
Bahraini citizens in Israel have been urged to exercise caution and follow the official security measures.
The Bahrain Embassy in Tel Aviv called upon citizens to contact the Foreign Ministry’s operation office on +97317227555 for help. They can also call +972549001144, +972508571275 or +972542925050.
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