GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip—Israel said Sunday that it killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, the second such targeted attack since it launched its high-stakes military offensive against the terrorist group just before the weekend.
The Iran-backed terrorist group has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response.
Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist group, which fought an 11-day war with Israel in May 2021, appeared to stay on the sidelines for now.
The Islamic Jihad commander, Khaled Mansour, was killed in an airstrike on an apartment building in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza late Saturday.
Two other terrorists and five civilians were also killed in the attack, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 36 since the start of the Israeli offensive on Friday. The Palestinian Health Ministry said more than 310 people were wounded since Friday.
Israel says some of the deaths were caused by errant rocket fire, including one incident in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza in which six Palestinians were killed Saturday. On Sunday, a projectile hit a home in the same area of Jebaliya, killing two men. Palestinians held Israel responsible, while Israel said it was investigating whether the area was hit by an errant rocket.
Mansour, the Islamic Jihad commander for southern Gaza, was in the apartment of a member of the group when the missile struck, flattening the three-story building.
On Sunday afternoon, the Israeli military said it was striking suspected “Islamic Jihad rocket launch posts.” Smoke could be seen from the strikes. Israeli airstrikes and rocket fire followed again a few hours later as sirens wailed in central Israel.
The fighting began with Israel’s killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander in a wave of strikes Friday that Israel said were meant to prevent an imminent attack.
In a statement Sunday, Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the military would continue to strike targets in Gaza “in a pinpoint and responsible way in order to reduce to a minimum the harm to noncombatants.” Lapid said the strike that killed Mansour was “an extraordinary achievement.”
“The operation will continue as long as necessary,” Lapid said.
Israel estimates its airstrikes have killed about 15 terrorists.
Islamic Jihad has fewer fighters and supporters than Hamas, and little is known about its weapons arsenal. Both groups call for Israel’s destruction, but have different priorities, with Hamas constrained by the demands of governing.
The Israeli army said terrorists in Gaza fired some 580 rockets toward Israel. The army said its air defenses had intercepted many of them, with two of those shot down being fired toward Jerusalem.
Air raid sirens sounded in the Jerusalem area for the first time Sunday since last year’s Israel–Hamas war.
