Israel airstrikes take out Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza

At least 28 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed since the Jewish state launched the operation four days ago.

A precision strike on the home of an Islamic Jihad leader in Khan Yunis on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Israeli airstrikes killed two senior Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired more rockets at Israel, killing an Israeli civilian on Thursday, as fighting between Israel and the US-designated terrorist group persisted for a third day.

Egypt and the UN continued to seek a ceasefire between the two sides but those efforts appeared to be stymied over Islamic Jihad’s demand that Israel cease its policy of targeted killings.

On Thursday afternoon, militants fired rockets towards densely populated cities in central Israel. One of the missiles struck a building in Rehovot, a city 24km south of Tel Aviv, killing one Israeli – the first Israeli casualty since the fighting began on Tuesday – and wounding several others.

An Islamic Jihad commander, Ali Ghali, was killed in a predawn airstrike on Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli military. Hours later, Israeli airstrikes killed his deputy, Ahmad Abu Daqqa, in a similar strike.

The Israeli military said both men were responsible for rocket attacks on Israel in the current spate of violence as well as in previous rounds of conflict.

Since Tuesday, Israeli strikes have killed five senior Islamic Jihad figures, the country’s military said. Islamic Jihad vowed to retaliate following Ghali’s killing, saying that Israel’s “policy of assassination by bombing residential buildings won’t grant the enemy a victory”.

At least 28 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its operation against Islamic Jihad four days ago, according to Palestinian health officials.

Many were militants, but at least 10 were civilians, including a dentist, members of his family, and some of the Islamic Jihad commanders’ wives and children.

Palestinian militants have fired more than 500 rockets at southern and central Israel since Wednesday. In that time, Israel’s military said it had used airstrikes to hit at least 133 targets in Gaza, including rocket- and mortar- launching sites and militants preparing to use them.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Army Radio before the Israeli civilian had been killed that Israel’s military goals had been achieved and that Israel would stop striking Gaza if Islamic Jihad ceased firing at ­Israel.

Both sides seemed on the verge of a deal on Wednesday night but the talks fell apart, with Israeli officials saying Islamic Jihad had sought to dictate unacceptable conditions for a truce.

During a visit to an Israeli military base, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the campaign wasn’t yet at a close. “We are in the midst of ­battle, both offensive and defensive,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal