Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least a dozen Palestinians, including three commanders and multiple family members. The Israeli jets and helicopters targeted several locations in Gaza, describing it as an operation aimed at "kingpin terrorists". While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the pre-dawn airstrikes, they also admitted that there were collateral damages, including the wives and children of those being targeted.
The Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, confirmed that three of its commanders, along with their wives and children, were killed in the operation. The Al Shifa hospital in Gaza stated that those killed were members of four families and one other individual. The IDF accused Jihad Shaker Al-Ghannam, one of the commanders killed, of coordinating weapons and money transfers between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. He was also considered one of the most senior members of Islamic Jihad.
The IDF called the strikes "Operation Shield and Arrow" and said that their fighter jets and helicopters hit ten Islamic Jihad targets, including rocket production workshops, weapon manufacturing sites, military compounds, a concrete manufacturing site, and a military post in southern Gaza. The video from Gaza showed explosions lighting up the night sky and the rubble from buildings hit by the strikes.
The recent violence comes almost a week after Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza exchanged fire following the death of a prominent Palestinian hunger striker in an Israeli prison. Israel conducted strikes on what it said were targets belonging to Hamas, while dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel on May 2.
Gaza is one of the most densely packed places globally, with almost two million people living in an isolated coastal enclave of 140 square miles. Governed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the territory is largely cut off from the rest of the world by an Israeli blockade of Gaza's land, air, and sea dating back to 2007. Egypt controls Gaza's southern border crossing, Rafah. Israel has placed heavy restrictions on the freedom of civilian movement and controls the importation of basic goods into the narrow coastal strip.
While the IDF has not confirmed whether there will be more follow-up strikes, they remain prepared for as long as it takes. The big question remains Hamas and what they will decide to do.