Israeli fighter jets hit targets in Gaza, at least 10 killed

Kathmandu: Israeli fighter jets have hit the targets in the Gaza Strip, reportedly killing at least 10 people.

Israel’s military said it carried out the airstrikes targeting the members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. Explosions targeting residential apartments were heard at about 2am local time on Tuesday in different parts of Gaza, Aljazeera reported.

Ministry of Health in Palestine declared that 10 people were killed in the Gaza Strip, and an unconfirmed number of people were injured in the Israeli air attacks.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement announced on Tuesday that three of its leaders were killed in the air attacks. The deceased were identified as Jihad al-Ghannam, Khalil al-Bahtini, and Tariq Izz al-Deen.

The three were killed along with their wives and some children, the group said in a statement which did not give details on their wives or how many children were killed and their ages.

Witnesses said an explosion hit the top floor of an apartment building in Gaza City and a house in the southern city of Rafah, the Reuters news agency reported.

The Israeli army said the air attacks, codenamed ‘Operation Shield and Arrow’, targeted three Palestinian Islamic Jihad members who it claimed were responsible for recent rockets fired towards Israel.

Last week, Israeli missiles pounded the densely populated Gaza Strip following rockets fired towards Israeli territory in the aftermath of the death in an Israeli prison of well-known hunger striker Khadar Adnan.