12 killed in pre-dawn air strikes of Israel in Palestine
GAZA CITY, PALESTINE: The pre-dawn air strikes of Israel on Palestinians killed 12 and injured many others.
Israel targeted the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli military announcement.
The Ministry of Health of Palestine said 12 people were killed in the Hamas-controlled territory in Gaza.
Some women and children were also among the dead.
According to media reports, witnesses in Gaza reported the sight of a blazing building and the evacuation of casualties.
According to Israeli army, pre-dawn the operation targeted three leaders of Islamic Jihad.
Hamas confirmed killing of their senior officials _ Jihad Ghannam, secretary of the Al-Quds Brigades military council, and Khalil al-Bahtini. Bahtini was also a commander of the military wing in northern Gaza.
The third, Tareq Ezzedine, was described by Islamic Jihad as “one of the heads of military action” in the occupied West Bank who operated from Gaza.
In Rafah city the lifeless body of a man identified as Ghannam was discovered.
“We mourn the leaders and their wives and a number of their children who were killed in a cowardly Zionist crime,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement, vowing “the blood of martyrs will increase (the) resolve” of the movement.
The operation was carried out in less than a week after Islamic Jihad announced a truce around Gaza. Egypt brokered this peace deal, following a fresh flare-up in violence.
Israel and Gaza fighters traded cross-border fire following the death in Israeli detention of Khader Adnan, who had been on hunger strike for 87 days following his arrest over ties to Islamic Jihad.
On Tuesday, the Islamic Jihad said Israel had “scorned all the initiatives of mediators” and vowed it would “avenge the leaders” killed in the latest air strikes.
