Israel killed at least 10 in Palestine, including a senior militant, after launching airstrikes on the region over an "immediate threat" by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) after one of its members was arrested early this week.
The group was believed to have fired more than 100 rockets into Israel "in an initial response" to the recent attack. Many of the attacks were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense shield as sirens could be heard in a number of Israeli cities.
At Least 10 Killed in Israeli Airstrikes
In a statement, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said that it later resumed airstrikes late on Friday, with a focus on militant positions. Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid appeared in a televised address where he said "Israel carried out a precise counter-terror operation against an immediate threat."
The IDF noted that it targeted sites that were linked to the PIJ and including the high-rise Palestine Tower in Gaza City which was hit by a loud explosion that left smoke pouring from the building. Among those killed included four PIJ militants, including Tayseer al Jabari, and a five-year-old girl, as per BBC.
Local health officials in Palestine also said that another 55 people were injured as a result of the airstrikes. In a statement, an Israeli military spokesman said that the IDF was "assuming about 15" militants had been killed by the attacks.
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Israel's Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked also said that they did not know how the situation would play out in the future, noting that it could take time and arguing that it would be a lengthy conflict and a difficult one.
According to CNN, al Jabari, who was among the militants killed by the airstrikes, was a commander in the Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, and a member of its Military Council said the group.
Gaza vs Israel
In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry said that a 23-year-old woman was also injured by the attacks. Medics in Gaza were seen carrying two bodies out of the Palestine Tower in the attack that an Israeli army statement called "Breaking Dawn."
The Israeli army said that the purpose of the airstrikes was to conduct a preemptive attack on al Jabari and strikes on two anti-tank squads which were en route to carrying out an attack on Israeli forces.
On Friday night, an Israeli army spokesman said that the two squads had been tracked for several days before the Air Force carried out its attacks. They added that Israel had been facing an imminent threat for several days as the two militant units moved very close to the fence separating Gaza from Israel.
Lapid said that the goal of the operation was to eliminate a concrete threat against the citizens of Israel and the civilians living adjacent to the Gaza Strip. He added that they were intended to target terrorists and their sponsors.
The prime minister noted that the Israeli government has a zero-tolerance policy for any attempted attacks, of any kind, from Gaza toward Israeli territory. He noted that the country will not sit idly by when there are those who are trying to harm its civilians, the Associated Press reported.
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