| Day 2 here (links to all the day’s posts), Day 1 here. Today’s posts: here, here, here, here, and here. |
[JPost] IDF states that children in Jabaliya refugee camp killed by failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch, not by IDF airstrikes.The IDF confirmed on Saturday night that senior Islamic Jihad operative Khaled Mansour had been eliminated by an IDF airstrike and that to the best of their knowledge, all senior Islamic Jihad officials in Gaza had been taken down as well.
Sirens blared in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening as the IDF continues Operation Breaking Dawn against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip as more than 350 rockets were launched toward Israel in the first full day of fighting between the two groups.
The IDF confirmed that it was striking unspecified targets in Gaza on Saturday night, with blasts heard in Rafah.
Head of the Operations Directorate Maj.-Gen. Oded Basiuk confirmed late Saturday night that senior Islamic Jihad operative Khaled Mansour was the target of the strikes and had been eliminated. Further, he added that "according to our intelligence...all of the senior security operatives of Gaza's Islamic Jihad have been eliminated."
The IDF continued to strike cells that had been planning to fire mortar shells as well as rocket launching sites after they fired toward Israeli communities near the border. Several Palestinian operatives belonging to Islamic Jihad were killed and injured in the strikes.
According to reports in Gaza, several civilians were killed including a 5-year-old girl and a 25-year-old woman, and at least 125 more were injured.
An explosion in Jabaliya on Saturday night killed at least nine people, including at least four children.
Despite initial reports stating that the deaths had been caused by an IDF strike, IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ran Kohav said that the civilians including the children who were killed seem to be because of a failed rocket launch that came shortly before a rocket barrage. "We did not launch strikes at that time," he said.
| Related: The Times of Israel liveblogged yesterday’s events here. Update at noon EDT: today’s Times of Israel liveblog is here. |
The IDF is currently striking Islamic Jihad terrorist organization tunnels in the Gaza Strip.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 7, 2022