Gaza City | An Israeli airstrike killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, the fighters said on Sunday, their second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict.
The killing late on Saturday (Sunday AEST) of Khaled Mansour, who led the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad’s operations in the southern Gaza Strip, came a day after another Israeli strike killed the militant’s commander in the north.
Already, the fighting has killed at least 29 Palestinians and involved hundreds of rockets fired towards Israel in the worst violence between Israel and Palestinian militants since the end of an 11-day war in 2021.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the army would continue to strike targets in the Gaza Strip “in a pinpoint and responsible way in order to reduce to a minimum the harm to non-combatants. The operation will continue as long as necessary.”
Meanwhile, tensions could escalate as Jews mark a holy day that will see ultranationalist Israeli politicians visit a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Such visits can be a frequent flashpoint for violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad confirmed on Sunday that the airstrike in the southern Gaza City of Rafah killed Mansour and two fellow militants. The militants said the strike also killed civilians as it flattened several homes.
Read the article by Fares Akram in the Financial Review (AP).