Israel launched focused airstrikes in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing three senior commanders of the Islamic Jihad militant group of their houses and at the very least 10 civilians, Palestinian well being officers mentioned. Two of the commanders’ wives, a number of of their youngsters and civilian neighbors — together with a hospital director, his spouse and son — had been among the many useless.

The assaults set the stage for what’s more likely to be a brand new spherical of preventing every week after an alternate of fireside between Israel and Islamic Jihad. Tuesday’s airstrikes focused an condo and home in Gaza Metropolis and a 3rd home within the southern city of Rafah. The Palestinian Well being Ministry mentioned 20 folks had been wounded.

Israel additionally focused Islamic Jihad coaching websites earlier than the airstrikes halted at dawn. After an hourslong lull, the navy mentioned it struck a automobile carrying anti-tank guided missiles to a launchpad in enclave’s southern metropolis of Khan Younis. Two folks had been killed in that assault, the Palestinian Well being Ministry mentioned, with out offering their identities. No militant group instantly claimed the 2 as members.

At noon, tens of hundreds of individuals rushed into the streets for 2 big funerals, with at the very least 10 our bodies carried on stretchers in a mass procession in Gaza Metropolis. Youngsters’s coffins had been carried subsequent to these of their dad and mom.

Such focused killings are uncommon, and previously, Palestinian militant teams have retaliated with intense barrages of rocket hearth.

In a prime-time televised handle, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the nation would have to be affected person within the coming days and that he had instructed the military “to organize for each attainable situation of escalation,” together with the probability that this may very well be on a number of fronts. “Tonight I say to our enemies, each escalation by you’ll be answered with an amazing response,” he mentioned.

In anticipation of rocket hearth, the Israeli navy suggested residents of communities inside 25 miles (40 kilometers) of Gaza to remain near designated bomb shelters. Israel’s Dwelling Entrance command ordered the closure of faculties, seashores and highways in cities and cities in southern Israel, and restricted public gatherings. Protection Minister Yoav Gallant authorized the call-up of reserves.

The Israeli navy alleged that the three militants it focused had been answerable for latest rocket hearth towards Israel. It recognized them as Khalil Bahtini, the Islamic Jihad commander for northern Gaza Strip; Tareq Izzeldeen, the group’s middleman between its Gaza and West Financial institution members; and Jehad Ghanam, the secretary of the Islamic Jihad’s navy council.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief navy spokesman, described the three militants as “a supply of instability.” He alleged that Izzeldeen, as an illustration, had been attempting to ascertain a rocket-manufacturing operation within the West Financial institution.

The Palestinian Well being Ministry mentioned the 13 killed within the predawn strikes included 4 girls and 4 youngsters. That included Bahtini’s spouse and 4-year-old daughter and Izzeldeen’s two younger youngsters. Within the southern metropolis of Rafah, Ghanam and his 62-year-old spouse had been killed of their dwelling, in keeping with the Palestinian Middle for Human Rights in Gaza.

Different uninvolved civilians who occurred to dwell close by had been additionally killed. The strike on Izzeldeen’s dwelling killed three members of a household residing upstairs — Jamal Khaswan, a distinguished native dentist and chairman of Al-Wafaa Hospital, his spouse and his 19-year-old son, Yousef, who was learning to be a dentist like his father, the rights group reported. Russian diplomats within the West Financial institution mentioned Khaswan had Russian citizenship. A extensively shared video confirmed their distraught younger daughter, Miral, arriving alone at Gaza’s essential hospital and crying out for her father.

A simultaneous airstrike on Bahtini’s dwelling in jap Gaza Metropolis killed two teenage sisters residing within the condo subsequent door, the rights group mentioned.

“Dania’s blood was on her desk and mattress. Eman was lined in particles,” mentioned their cousin, Ihab Adas. She mentioned the sisters had gone to sleep shortly after Dania’s fiancée left the condo. “The women’ room was destroyed,” she added.

Hagari expressed remorse over the civilian casualties, however mentioned they had been unattainable to keep away from as a result of Islamic Jihad operates inside residential areas.

From Israel’s perspective, Hagari added, the operation was over. However he mentioned it could react to additional assaults by Islamic Jihad or another militant group. “We’ve got achieved our objectives,” he mentioned. “Now the ball is on the opposite facet.”

The Israeli airstrikes drew condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt, which frequently mediates between Israel and Palestinian militant teams in Gaza. The Arab League denounced the airstrikes as “atrocious.” The European Union mentioned it was “gravely involved.” France issued a stronger assertion, saying it “condemns all assaults that concentrate on civilians, and particularly these … during which a number of Palestinian civilians had been killed.”

Palestinian militants in Gaza vowed revenge. Dawood Shahab, an Islamic Jihad official, mentioned there can be a “unified Palestinian response” to the strikes at a time and place of the group’s selecting.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh warned that Israel will “pay the value” for the killings. “Assassinating the leaders with a treacherous operation won’t deliver safety to the occupier, however relatively extra resistance,” mentioned Haniyeh.

Islamic Jihad and Hamas are each Iranian-backed teams that oppose Israel’s existence and possess massive arsenals of rockets and different weapons. Over the previous 12 months, the bigger and extra highly effective Hamas has stayed totally on the sidelines, whereas permitting Islamic Jihad to hold out assaults.

Islamic Jihad bombarded Israel with over 100 rockets final week after one in every of its senior members within the West Financial institution died from an 87-day starvation strike whereas in Israeli custody. The Israeli navy responded with airstrikes and the alternate of fireside ended with a fragile cease-fire.

Hagari mentioned Israel had been planning the operation for the previous week following Islamic Jihad’s rocket hearth however waited till Tuesday for what he mentioned had been the suitable situations.

If Hamas joins the preventing, it could probably set off a good heavier Israeli response. Two years in the past, Israel and Hamas fought a short conflict that killed over 250 Palestinians and 13 folks in Israel.

The sudden airstrikes come at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Palestinians, significantly within the occupied West Financial institution, the place Israel has been conducting near-daily raids for months to detain suspected Palestinian militants, together with many from Islamic Jihad. Israel says the raids within the West Financial institution are supposed to dismantle militant networks and thwart future assaults.

The Palestinians see the assaults as additional entrenchment of Israel’s 56-year, open-ended occupation of lands they look for a future state. To date, 105 Palestinians, about half of them affiliated with militant teams, have been killed by Israeli hearth within the West Financial institution and east Jerusalem because the begin of 2023, in keeping with an Related Press tally. No less than 20 folks have been killed in Palestinian assaults in Israel.

Tuesday’s airstrikes recalled Israel’s related focused assaults that killed Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza in the summertime of 2022. The shock strikes set off a three-day blitz that led to the deaths of the militant group’s two prime commanders and different militants. Some two dozen Palestinian civilians — who’ve paid a excessive worth over time in Israeli assaults on Gaza — had been additionally killed.