A Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
squad in the Gaza Strip that sought to carry out an anti-tank guided missile attack against targets on the Israeli border was targeted in an
...KABOOM!...
on Tuesday afternoon, according to the military.
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out the airstrike against the squad near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, as its members were taking missiles by car to a launch site.
"IDF soldiers monitored the activity of the squad and struck it while they were on their way to the launch pad," the military said.
The Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said two men were killed and two were maimed in the strike. They were not immediately named. The strike brought the corpse count since the military launched its operation against Islamic Jihad early Tuesday morning to 15.
Images published by media outlets showed a burnt-out car after the attack. The IDF published drone footage of the strike.
Shortly after, Paleostinian media outlets reported a second airstrike against a "resistance site" in central Gaza. The IDF did not immediately comment on the reports.
The strikes came as Islamic Jihad was seeking to carry out reprisal attacks against Israel, after the IDF assassinated three senior members of the terror group in a series of strikes early Tuesday morning.
Earlier in the day, the IDF blocked access to some roads running near the enclave, over fears of anti-tank missile fire or sniper attacks.
The airstrikes in the pre-dawn hours came days after a short-lived but fiery
...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob...
flareup of violence set the restive region on edge. Islamic Jihad fired 104 rockets toward Israel on May 2 and 3, in response to the death of a member of the group who had been on hunger strike in Israeli prison.
Hamas health officials said 13 people were killed in the bombing runs early Tuesday. Islamic Jihad said the wives of the three commanders and a number of their children were among the dead. Some 20 people were reported injured in the strikes.
The so-called Joint Operations Room of various Paleostinian terror factions in the Gaza Strip, which includes both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said Israel and its leaders would "pay the price" for the deadly airstrikes.
The army dubbed the campaign Operation Shield and Arrow.
Islamic Jihad had yet to successfully respond as of 6 p.m., likely a result of Israel catching the group off-guard, though the coming hours were likely to see intense volleys at Israeli cities.
The IDF’s Home Front Command gave the go-ahead for towns bordering Gaza to begin evacuating residents to other parts of the country, with the military estimating that fighting could last several days.
The Shaar Hanegev Regional Council said dozens of families had already left their communities by Tuesday afternoon, amid fears of rocket fire. By the end of the day, over 200 families were expected to leave to be hosted in towns in central, southern, and northern Israel, the council said.
Anticipating a spiraling conflict lasting several days at least, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant okayed the army to call up reserve troops as needed. The IDF was to call up several hundred reservists in the coming day, mostly in the Air Force, Southern Command, and intelligence units.
"We must be prepared for any scenario, including a prolonged campaign with an extended range of fire," Gallant told mayors and community leaders in southern Israel, according to a readout provided by his office.
IDF publishes footage of the strike against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad anti-tank guided missile squad near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/TorjnS8gI0
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 9, 2023