In a surprise attack early Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had struck Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, killing at least three leaders of the Palestinian militant group, as both sides braced for a possible sharp escalation in cross-border violence.
The airstrikes, which came a week after Islamic Jihad fired dozens of rockets at Israel, hit residential buildings across the Palestinian coastal territory.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said at least 12 people were killed, including women and children, and at least 20 were injured.
The Israeli military said it had targeted and killed Khalil Bahitini, who it said had been responsible for launching rockets against Israel over the past month; Tareq Ezzedine, who had directed attacks against Israelis in the occupied West Bank; and Jihad Al-Ghanam, another high-ranking leader of the group.
The military wing of Islamic Jihad — which Israel, the United States and many other Western countries classify as a terrorist organization — confirmed the deaths of the three leaders, saying in a statement that they had been killed “as a result of a cowardly Zionist assassination at dawn today.”