A teenage member of the group was killed in a gunbattle between the Israeli troops and Palestinian militants. Israel closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack after Monday’s arrest of Bassam al-Saadi, an Islamic Jihad leader, in a military raid in the occupied West Bank. “May God take revenge against spies,” shouted one, referring to Palestinian informants who cooperate with Israel.ĭefense Minister Benny Gantz approved an order to call up 25,000 reserve soldiers if needed while the military announced a “special situation” on the home front, with schools closed and limits placed on activities in communities within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the border. Some went in to identify loved ones and emerged later in tears. “Israel will not sit idly by when there are those who are trying to harm its civilians.”įollowing the initial Israeli strikes, a few hundred people gathered outside the morgue at Gaza City’s main Shifa hospital. “This government has a zero-tolerance policy for any attempted attacks - of any kind - from Gaza towards Israeli territory,” Lapid said. In a nationally televised speech, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said his country launched the attacks based on “concrete threats.” Video released by Israel’s military showed the strikes blowing up three guard towers with suspected militants in them. Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the last 15 years at a staggering cost to the territory’s 2 million Palestinian residents.Ī blast was heard in Gaza City, where smoke poured out of the seventh floor of a tall building.

Islamic Jihad claimed to have fired 100 rockets. Hours later, Palestinian militants launched a barrage of rockets as air-raid sirens wailed in Israel and the two sides drew closer to another all-out war. Israel said it targeted the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to an “imminent threat” following the recent arrest of another senior militant. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes Friday on Gaza, killing at least 10 people, including a senior militant, according to Palestinian officials.

Beat blast resistant block