A Palestinian woman reacts as people gather at the site of an explosion in Gaza City August 5, 2022. (REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)
GAZA CITY: The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed at least eight people, including a five-year-old girl, and wounded another 40.
Islamic Jihad said Taiseer al-Jabari, its commander for northern Gaza, was among those killed. He had succeeded another militant killed in an airstrike in 2019.
Israel said it was targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to an "imminent threat” following the arrest of a senior militant in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.
A blast could be heard in Gaza City, where smoke poured out of the seventh floor of a tall building on Friday afternoon.
The Israeli military said it was targeting Islamic Jihad in an operation named "Breaking Dawn.” It also announced a "special situation” on the home front, with schools closed and limits placed on other activities in communities within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the border.
Israel had closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack after the arrest of the Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank on Monday. A teenage member of the group was killed in a gun battle between the Israeli troops and Palestinian militants.
