HISTORY IN DEVELOPMENT HISTORY IN DEVELOPMENT,
At least eight people, including an Islamic Jihad commander and a girl, were killed and 44 wounded in a series of rocket attacks across Gaza.
Gaza City: Israel struck Gaza with warplanes on Friday, killing at least eight people, including an Islamic Jihad group commander and a girl.
Taysir al-Jabari, a commander of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad, was killed in an airstrike on an apartment in the Palestine Tower in central Gaza City, the group said.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least seven people were killed, including al-Jabari and a five-year-old girl. At least 44 people were injured and treated in hospitals as a result of the Israeli raids.
Smoke billowed from the seventh floor of the building in Gaza City. Civil Protection teams have been dispatched to the scene to evacuate people and put out the fire caused by the attack.
“We just had lunch on Friday and my children were playing. Suddenly, a huge explosion hit the tower where we live. we ran away The sound was massive. We were very surprised because the place is full of civilians. I saw many victims who were evacuated,” one resident told Al Jazeera with blood covering his clothes.
Multiple explosions could be heard and seen across Gaza. Israeli reconnaissance drones could be heard hovering over the besieged enclave.
The attacks also hit the southern areas of Khan Younis and Rafah, as well as the neighborhood of Al-Shuja’iya.
It followed days of tension with Islamic Jihad following the arrest of senior Palestinian leader Bassam al-Saadi in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
It also came after days of border closures, including the closure of the Karam Abu Salem trade crossing, responsible for the flow of fuel needed for Gaza’s only power plant.
In a statement, Islamic Jihad said: “The enemy has started a war against our people, and we all have a duty to defend ourselves and our people, and not allow the enemy to escape with their actions aimed at undermining national resistance and firmness”.
Earlier on Friday, the Israeli military said it was striking Gaza, adding that “a special situation has been declared on the Israeli home front.”
Israel closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it prepared for a response following the arrest of a senior member of the Islamic Jihad group in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said in a statement that it would respond to Friday’s “escalation”.
“The Israeli enemy is the one who started the escalation against the resistance in Gaza and committed a new crime, and bears full responsibility,” Barhoum said.
“The resistance will defend our people in the Gaza Strip with everything they have and will continue to respond.”
“External Force”
Ahmed Mudalal, an Islamic Jihad official in Gaza, said the group had made demands to Israel through Egyptian mediators, including the release of the detained leader and another prisoner, an end to incursions into the West Bank and the lifting the blockade of Gaza. He said they haven’t heard back yet.
Israel and Hamas, which rules Gaza, have fought four wars and engaged in several smaller skirmishes over the past 15 years.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited communities near Gaza on Friday, saying authorities were preparing “actions that will eliminate the threat from this region,” without elaborating.
“We will act with internal resilience and external strength to restore routine life in southern Israel,” he said. “We do not seek conflict, but we will not hesitate to defend our citizens, if necessary.”
Israel and Egypt have maintained a strict blockade on Gaza for 14 years, and critics say the policy amounts to collective punishment for the region’s two million Palestinian residents.