Israel

Israeli air strikes have pounded Gaza while the militant Islamic Jihad group fired hundreds of rockets into Israel...

Islamic Jihad said it had fired a missile at Israel's main international gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, but the rocket fell short about 20 kilometres away. Gaza streets were largely deserted on Saturday afternoon. The cross-border clash, which shattered more than a year of relative calm around Gaza, began when Israel launched a surprise attack on Friday, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and hitting a series of what it said were military targets.

Residents in southern Israel spent the night in bomb shelters as rocket sirens are heard in cities near the Palestinian enclave and as far as the Tel Aviv ...

The military said it had deployed the Iron Dome air defense system near Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheba, as it anticipated retaliation from Islamic Jihad in the form of rocket attacks. According to the Shin Bet, Saadi, 61, has been jailed and released by Israel seven times over the years. Tensions around the Gaza Strip spiked following the arrest of Bassam Saadi in Jenin on Monday night. “The directive the security forces received from us was clear: Israel will not sit idly by when there are those who are trying to harm its civilians,” he said. By 10 pm the PIJ claimed it had launched some 100 rockets at Israel. The IDF said some 80 had been fired in that time. As of Friday evening, Hamas appeared to indeed be staying out of the fight for the time being. Alerts were also heard in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Rishon Lezion, Holon and Bat Yam. Israeli leaders said the actions were necessary after the group refused to back down from its intentions to carry out attacks. On Friday night Gantz held a phone call with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and updated him on the IDF’s efforts. In its round of strikes within the operation, the military said six sites were hit by fighter jets and armed drones. The army estimated that between 10-20 terror operatives had been killed in the opening wave of airstrikes. An unspecified number of PIJ rocket-launching positions were also struck, the military said.

Israeli forces continue to target the Gaza Strip with air attacks for a second day. Israeli army arrests 19 Islamic Jihad members in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces and militants in Gaza continued to exchange air and rocket attacks Saturday following Israeli airstrikes that killed 12 inside the enclave ...

There were lines to buy groceries even as occasional IDF strikes landed elsewhere in the enclave of 2 million people. But opinions within the organization are known to be divided, with some Hamas officials outside of the enclave more eager for an escalation. Officials said that 81 of the launches had fallen short and landed in Gaza and that 14 others had plunged into the sea. Officials on Saturday shut down the enclave’s sole power plant, which already operated at limited capacity, because of a lack of fuel to run generators. “Suddenly, without warning, there was a big explosion and the window glass started to fly,” said Iman Abu Ghanima, 51, who lives in a building next to the blast site. There was no sign of letup in the fighting, and the Israeli military said it had prepared for its operations to last at least a week. Israeli officials hope that conditions are right for a relatively quick end to the violence. “The most important thing is whether Hamas is going to intervene or not,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, a former head of intelligence research for the Israeli army. The IDF continued to carry out airstrikes in Gaza, targeting what it said were rocket-manufacturing, storage and launch sites. Hamas sat out several days of exchanges between PIJ and Israel in 2019 after Israel killed another top PIJ commander. He said the strikes are carefully planned to avoid harming bystanders but that the militants make perfect accuracy impossible by embedding themselves and their weapons within the civilian population. Two civilians reportedly received minor injuries as they ran for cover, and two soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) received minor shrapnel wounds, officials said.

The Israeli military campaign against Islamic Jihad went into its second day Saturday evening with continued airstrikes on what it said were militant ...

The Palestinian health ministry said he had been shot in the head by Israeli forces. Saadi was one of two wanted terror suspects apprehended in the raid, Israel said. Gaza has only one power plant and Israel controls the entry of fuel into the territory. Israeli emergency services said they treated 21 people for their injuries, including two with minor injuries caused by shrapnel. Israel says most of those killed were militants. In a subsequent statement, the Israeli army said the explosion was the result of a failed militant rocket launch.