GAZA STRIP: A senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader and another person were murdered in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Gaza Strip before daybreak.
In Hamad Residential City, next to Khan Younis in the south of the strip, a warplane struck an apartment on the fifth story of a structure.
On Wednesday, Gaza militants launched over 460 missiles towards Israel.
In the worst nine-month battle, the Israeli military struck more than 130 militant targets in Gaza.
At least 24 people have died as a result of combat this week, including three more PIJ leaders, according to Palestinian medical authorities.
As the missiles were launched from Gaza, several individuals were harmed in Israel as they rushed to safety.
The chief of the PIJ’s missile section, Ali Hassan Ghali, also known as Abu Muhammad, was killed in the strike on Thursday morning, according to the organisation’s armed wing.
After Hamas, the PIJ is the second-largest militant organisation in Gaza, and it has vowed to exact revenge on anyone who have slain Palestinians.
Israel’s military acknowledged that Ghali and two “other Islamic Jihad operatives in Gaza” were the targets of the attack.
They called the commander “responsible for the latest rocket barrages launched against Israel” and said he was a key member of the PIJ.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s campaign was ongoing on Wednesday night.
He referred to the Tuesday death of the three PIJ commanders as “the most significant blow” that Islamic Jihad has ever experienced.
Egypt reportedly negotiated a truce, according to Egyptian media hours before Mr. Netanyahu spoke, but neither party immediately confirmed the news.
Earlier, armed groups in Gaza warned: “Dark days await Israel if it escalates its aggression.”
