Israeli Strikes Continue in Gaza As Palestinians Retaliate
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israeli regime fighter jets carried out another series of airstrikes in the early hours of Saturday, marking the fifth consecutive day of ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.
The strikes targeted multiple locations in Gaza, as Israel claimed it was only targeting Islamic Jihad sites.
Gaza's Wafa news agency reported that a five-story building belonging to the family of Baha Abu Atta, a former commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was hit in the Shujaiya neighborhood, along with another house in the Yarmouk area of central Gaza City.
According to Wafa, the house in the Yarmouk area was completely destroyed after being bombed by a drone missile and two warplane missiles. In response, Palestinian resistance groups launched rocket attacks on Friday.
Egyptian mediators have made a fresh attempt to broker a ceasefire, seeking to end the days of violence that have claimed the lives of numerous Palestinians.
The international community has called for de-escalation, with the European Union urging an "immediate comprehensive ceasefire." AFP journalists witnessed airstrikes hitting Gaza City, while the violence initially erupted on Tuesday after Israel killed three senior members of the Islamic Jihad. Subsequent strikes have resulted in the deaths of at least three other high-ranking figures within the group.
Iyad al-Hassani, a top commander, was killed in an airstrike on a Gaza City apartment on Friday, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad.
Hours earlier, the group stated that the rocket fire was a response to the assassinations and continued aggression against the Palestinian people.
The conflict has led to the deaths of at least 33 Palestinians, including children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
The decision to resume airstrikes on Gaza was authorized by Israeli regime prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who came back to power in December alongside far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.
The recent aggression resulted in more than 110 injuries in Gaza, according to the latest update from the health ministry.
Prior to these developments, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City's al-Nasr neighborhood had claimed the lives of at least three Palestinians and injured ten others.
The Islamic Jihad has vowed to strike deep inside Israel in response to the targeting of residential homes in Gaza.
Israel has been persistently bombarding the strip, resulting in the assassination of several resistance commanders. In retaliation, Palestinian factions have launched strikes on cities and settlements in occupied territories.
The Israeli military reported that nearly 1,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza thus far.
