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- By David Gritten and Rushdie Abu Alouf
- BBC News, London and Gaza City
BBC’s Yolande Nel: ‘A very scary day for Israelis and Palestinians’
Israeli forces predawn an apartment building in the Gaza Strip, killing the commander of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket launch force.
Two other militants were also killed in the attack in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the military said.
About a dozen mortars were then fired from Gaza and sirens blared in southern Israel. No injuries have been reported.
On Wednesday, militants fired 507 rockets and mortars at Israel, which hit 158 PIJ targets in the Gaza Strip.
A Gaza health official said 25 people were killed and 76 wounded in Gaza since Tuesday morning when Israel launched operations against the PIJ in a series of attacks that killed three more commanders.
At least 10 civilians were among the dead, which the United Nations said was unacceptable.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that four people, including three children, were killed in a rocket detonation in the Gaza Strip, a statement not confirmed by Palestinian sources.
Local health officials said there were no deaths in Israel, but several people were injured while rushing to shelters.
Israel raids sixth-floor apartment overnight, killing Ali Hassan Ghali and two others
An early morning Israeli airstrike on Khan Yunis destroyed an apartment building on the top floor of the six-story building and damaged the apartments below.
The PIJ’s armed forces department confirmed that the head of the missile force, Ali Hassan Ghali, also known as Abu Mohammed, was killed in the attack, calling it a “Zionist treacherous assassination.” Stated.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said three people were killed and seven injured. Palestinian media reported that the other two dead were Ghali’s brother and nephew.
The PIJ is the second-largest militant group after Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and has been responsible for many of the recent rocket attacks on Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that it targeted Ghali and what it said were “two other Islamic jihadists in Gaza.”
He said he was a key figure in the PIJ who was “responsible for the recent rocket attacks against Israel.”
Gaza militants fired about 10 mortars into an Israeli community in the Southern Eshkol Regional Council late Thursday morning, local officials said, none of which hit any populated areas. added.
Some of the rockets and mortars fired hit homes and buildings, but most landed in open spaces or were intercepted.
On Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s election campaign is not over yet.
He noted that three PIJ commanders were killed on Tuesday and that dozens of the group’s rocket and mortar launch sites were targeted, adding: It was the most severe blow of all,” he said.
Islamic Jihad threatened dark days if Israel “increased aggression”.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was watching the developments in Gaza with deep concern and “condemned the loss of civilian lives, including children and women, which he considers unacceptable.” rice field.
“The Secretary-General calls on the parties concerned to exercise maximum restraint and seek to immediately cease hostilities,” it added.
More than 500 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel since Wednesday
Egypt is trying to secure a ceasefire between the two countries.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Wednesday that he was “appreciating” the proposal from Cairo. Palestinian factions are reportedly hoping to agree to prevent what Israel calls “targeted assassinations.”
This week’s fighting is the deadliest since three days of fighting between Israel and the PIJ last August, when 49 Palestinians were killed in Gaza.
After the death of a Palestinian hunger striker in an Israeli prison last week, the PIJ and other groups fired more than 100 rockets into Israel in two days, rekindling the crisis. In response, the Israeli army launched airstrikes on targets it said had ties to Hamas.
Tensions continued in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday after Israel launched an arrest raid.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the town of Qabatiya, and a trio opened fire. Another shootout with Palestinian militants in Tuvas also seriously injured an Israeli soldier.
Additional report by Antoinette Radford, London
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