Israel has killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders in airstrikes on the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials said also killed at least nine civilians including four children.
The airstrikes, which the Israeli military said it had launched against the militant group, were the latest incident in more than a year of surging violence that has seen repeated Israeli military raids and escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, amid a spate of Palestinian street attacks on Israelis.
Witnesses said an explosion hit the top floor of an apartment building in Gaza City and a house in the southern city of Rafah early on Tuesday morning. Airstrikes continued in the early hours targeting militant training sites, Associated Press reported.
Women and children were among the dead, the health ministry said.
Israel’s military said it targeted three senior commanders of Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful armed group in the blockaded coastal enclave, which is controlled by the Islamist militant group Hamas. Forty jets took part in the strikes, the military said.
The Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said: “Any terrorist who harms Israeli citizens will be made to regret it.”
A Gaza health official said at least 12 people had been killed and 20 wounded in the strikes that hit residential areas in the densely populated strip, in which 2.3 million Palestinians live on 365 sq km (140 square miles).
An Israeli military spokesperson said the army was looking into reports of civilian deaths but had no immediate comment.
Islamic Jihad’s armed wing confirmed the deaths of the three commanders, adding: “We will not abandon our positions and the resistance will continue, God willing.”
The group identified the commanders killed as Jihad Ghannam, Khalil Al-Bahtini and Tareq Izzeldeen.
The airstrikes, which began a little after 2am local time, were still going nearly two hours later, according to AFP journalists, with a new explosion heard in the east.
The military said it targeted 10 weapon and infrastructure manufacturing sites, including rocket production workshops and a site for making concrete used for tunnels, as well as military compounds belonging to the group.
In anticipation of rocket fire in response to the killings, Israel’s military urged citizens living in towns within 40km (25 miles) of Gaza to stay near bomb shelters.
Militant groups said they would respond to the strikes. Tareq Selmi, an Islamic Jihad spokesperson, said: “The bombardment will be met by bombardment and the attack will be met by an attack.”
The Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who has been splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar, said in a statement: “Assassination of leaders will not bring the occupation security but more resistance.”
Videos showed billowing smoke and flames that lit up the night sky as trucks of firefighters sped to a building that had been hit, while a medic reassured a young girl who appeared confused. “Your family is all safe, don’t worry,” he said.
During the bombardment, Palestinians took to social media to mourn a well-known dentist who was killed at home with his wife in Tuesday’s airstrikes, describing him as a loyal friend and humble man.
Last week, the death of Khader Adnan in Israeli custody after an 87-day hunger strike triggered several hours of cross-border fighting between Israel and armed groups in Gaza, in which one Palestinian man was killed.
Palestinians protest after Khader Adnan dies in Israel jail after 87-day hunger strike – videoMore than 100 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in the strife since January.
The Palestinian foreign ministry strongly condemned Israel’s attack and said a negotiated political solution was the only way to achieve security and stability.
Cogat, a unit of the Israeli defence ministry that coordinates civilian affairs with Palestinians in occupied territories, said its two Gaza crossings were closed to people and goods until further notice.
Last week Gaza militants fired several waves of rockets towards southern Israel, and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes, after the hunger strike death of a senior Islamic Jihad member in Israeli custody. The exchange of fire ended with a fragile ceasefire mediated by Egypt, the UN and Qatar.
The airstrikes are similar to ones in 2022 in which Israel bombed places housing commanders of Islamic Jihad, setting off a three-day blitz in which the Iranian-backed group lost its two top commanders and dozens of other members.
Israel says the raids in the West Bank are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see the attacks as further entrenchment of Israel’s 56-year, open-ended occupation.