After hundreds of rockets were fired towards Israel by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck approximately 130 positions in the Gaza Strip belonging to the organization.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lauded the IDF action, saying it was a justifiable response.
The IDF fired a new wave of airstrikes into the Gaza Strip after reports of explosions in the southern city of Beersheba. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently stated that the military operation against the Islamic Jihad in Gaza was ongoing. Israeli forces have dealt Islamic Jihad its greatest-ever defeat, praising the growth of new intelligence and operational capabilities.
The Israeli Defense Force also revealed that they had successfully shot down their first missile using the air defense system David’s Sling. In recent hours, Gaza has fired over a hundred rockets into Israel, most of them being shot down by the Iron Dome. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry also confirmed two further casualties.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently met with mayors of border towns to thank the people living there for bearing the brunt of the rocket fire.
A kindergarten class in the Eshkol area was hit by shrapnel from 40 rockets at around 3:00 p.m. local time. In the previous three days, 17 Palestinians have been slain as tensions rise.
The Ben Gurion International Airport was briefly closed to civilian aircraft. Israeli airstrikes have hit multiple rocket launch locations in Gaza, and an Islamic Jihad squad en route to a rocket site to fire rockets into Israel was also hit.
Two gunmen were slain, and a weapon and handgun were found in a car during nocturnal raids into the West Bank settlement of Qabatiya. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad has named Ahmed Jamal Assaf, 19, and Rani Walid Qatanat, 24, the two shooters.
Egypt, the United States, and Qatar mediate talks between Israel and the Gaza-based terror group.
