Israel’s military says Israeli warplanes struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad positions in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, killing three senior commanders.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has said that several people were killed and injured in the airstrikes but did not give details.
The Israeli military said the airstrikes were carried out on the hideouts of three senior commanders of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group.
An explosion hit the top floor of an apartment in Gaza City and a house in the southern city of Rafah, witnesses said.
Airstrikes continued early in the morning to target militant training sites.
The Israeli military said the aerial bombardment, dubbed “Operation Shield and Arrow”, killed Khalil Battini, Islamic Jihad’s commander for the northern Gaza Strip, Tariq Izzedin, who mediates between Gaza and West Bank members, and Islamic Jihad. Jihad Ghunam, Secretary of the Military Council of Jihad, was targeted.
The statement added that these three commanders were responsible for the recent Israeli rocket attacks.
The Palestinian organisation Islamic Jihad confirmed that three people were among the dead.
The airstrikes have been carried out at a time when tensions between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip are on the rise.
Israel has been carrying out raids for months to detain Palestinians suspected of attacking or planning attacks on Israelis.
Last week, Gaza militants fired several rockets into southern Israel. Meanwhile, Israel’s military responded with airstrikes after a senior Islamic Jihad member who was on hunger strike in Israeli custody was killed.
The airstrikes are similar to the 2022 attacks, in which Israel bombed the residences of Islamic Jihad group commanders.
The bombing was followed by a three-day offensive in which the group lost two of its top commanders and dozens of other militants.
Israel says the raids in the West Bank are aimed at dismantling militant networks and thwarting future attacks.