JERUSALEM
At least 10 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes Friday on the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement.
The fatalities included a 5-year-old girl and a leading member of the Islamic Jihad movement.
"Ten Palestinians were martyred and 44 others injured in a series of Israeli air raids on Gaza Strip,” the statement said.
Mourning the casualties, the Islamic Jihad Movement said in a press statement that Taysir al-Jabari, commander of the northern region of the group's military wing, was among those killed by the raids.
The Israeli army also confirmed in a statement that it had targeted al-Jabari and 10 activists, claiming that they were on their way to launch anti-tank missiles and sniper operations.
An Israeli army source told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth that at least 15 Islamic Jihad activists were killed in the raids.
According to an Anadolu Agency reporter in Gaza, Israeli warplanes hit separate areas in Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and the northern Gaza Strip.
Among the targets that the army raided was an apartment in Burj Palestine, in the Rimal neighborhood in western Gaza City.
The Islamic Jihad movement responded to the attack by confirming that it will not allow "the enemy to pass its policies aimed at undermining the resistance and national steadfastness."
As for Hamas, it reacted by affirming that "the resistance with all its military arms and factions are united in this battle and will say its word with full force."
"The Israeli enemy is the one which started the escalation against the resistance in Gaza, and it must bear the responsibility," Hamas said.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli "aggression" against the Gaza Strip.
In a press statement, it called on Israel to stop this "aggression" immediately, holding Tel Aviv's army "responsible for this dangerous escalation."
The Palestinian Authority also called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop the aggression against Palestinians everywhere, particularly in Gaza, and to provide them with international protection.
Anticipating a response by the Palestinian factions, the Israeli army deployed Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media outlets.
Earlier on Friday, the Israeli army said that it had begun carrying out raids on some targets in the Gaza Strip.
It added that a military campaign called Breaking Dawn had been launched on the strip against the group Islamic Jihad.
*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara
