At least 13 people, including members of Islamic Jihad, have been killed in Gaza and Some 20 have been injured by the intense shelling with about 40 Israeli Air Force planes and drones this morning over the strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Israeli Army has confirmed the attacks against targets of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (YIP) and some of its leaders“responsible for firing rockets at Israel in the last month”, such as Jalil Bahitini, Tareq Az Aldin and Jahed Ahnam, who have been killed, as well as some of their relatives and neighbours, including women and children.

According to the latest count of the Ministry of Health, the bombings left 13 “martyrs”, including 4 children and 4 women; as well as 20 injured, including 3 children and 7 women, and some in critical condition.

“Killed in a joint Army-General Security Service operation, the YIP commander in northern Gaza, a YIP leader responsible for directing activities in the West Bank from Gaza and the secretary of the YIP military council,” The Army has indicated about Baitini, Aldin and Ahnam, respectively.

As explained by the Israeli Army, Jahed Ahnam he was “one of the most important members of Islamic Jihad”who had served as commander of the group’s operations in southern Gaza and was in charge of coordination with the Islamist Hamas movement.

Tareq Az Aldin was in charge of coordination between members of the YIP in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank and would have planned “multiple attacks against Israeli civilians”; while Jalil Baitini served as commander of the JIP operations in northern Gaza and, according to the Armywas responsible for the attacks launched from the Strip towards Israel during the last month.

The bombardments of the Israeli aviation occurred on the cities of Gaza, to the north of the strip, and Rafah and Khan Younis, to the south, against buildings where these senior YIP officials lived, including a residential tower in the Al Rimal neighborhood in Gaza, but also on military installations of the group, considered terrorist by Israel, the US and the European Union.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PYP) has already warned Israel that will take revenge for the heavy shelling. In addition, they point out that the Israeli government “has ignored all the initiatives of the mediators” of peace.

“The resistance will begin from where the previous battles ended“, Tariq Selmi, spokesman for the YIP in Gaza, warned in a statement. In addition, he denounced that today’s bombings are motivated by internal Israeli politics and stressed that “Palestinian suffering will not be the path for Israel to reach your audience.

On the other hand, Ismael Haniyeh, political chief of the Islamist movement Hamas -which governs de facto in Gaza-, has affirmed that “the assassination of the leaders in a treacherous operation will not bring security to the (Israeli) occupation,” but more (Palestinian) resistance.”

“The enemy was wrong in his calculations and he will pay the price of his crime“He added, anticipating that the enclave’s militias are already planning their response.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which governs small parts of the occupied West Bank, has said the Israeli attack on Gaza “represents a dangerous escalation that threatens to plunge the entire region” into conflict.

The PNA Foreign Ministry has held the Israeli government “totally and directly responsible for this aggression and its consequences in the context of the conflict” and has called on the international community to “intervene urgently to stop the aggression against the Palestinian people”.