Israeli airstrike kills 2 Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza

Jerusalem: Two battalion commanders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement were killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

The IDF said on Saturday that Israeli aircraft on Thursday carried out a “precise strike” on a command and control centre in the city of Deir al-Balah used by Hamas and PIJ militants, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack killed “a number of” militants, including Abdallah Khatib, commander of the PIJ’s Southern Deir al-Balah Battalion, who commanded the battalion’s operations in the October 7 attacks in southern Israel, according to the statement.

The IDF also reported that Hatem Abu Aljidian, commander of the PIJ’s Eastern Deir al-Balah Battalion who was involved in planning attacks against Israeli forces during the conflict, was also killed in the strike.

Abu Aljidian also advanced numerous attacks against troops amid the ongoing fighting.

To mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, the IDF said it carried out “many steps,” including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

“This is another example of the systematic use by the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip of the population and civilian infrastructure, including the humanitarian zone, to carry out terror acts against the state and IDF troops,” the military added.

As for the Saturday strikes on the schools, according to the military, Hamas was using the Amr Ibn al-Aas School in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood to plan and carry out attacks against troops and Israel.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 40,939, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.