"Breaking Dawn" Op. : Death toll in Israel air strikes on Gaza rises to seven, including child

 

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 1. Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes in Gaza on Friday, killing at least seven people, including a senior militant, according to Palestinian officials.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said seven people were killed, including a five-year-old girl, and at least 40 wounded. The Islamic Jihad movement said a Gaza commander, Tayseer al-Jabari, was among those killed.[alarabiya.net]
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2. Israel says it is attacking Gaza with warplanes and declared a “special situation on the home front” after days of tensions with the Palestinians.

The friction follows the arrest of a senior Palestinian leader in the occupied West Bank. A blast could be heard in Gaza City on Friday, where smoke poured out of the seventh floor of a tall building. [ Al Jazeera ]
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3. Israel had closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack after the arrest of a senior member of the militant group in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
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4. Israel announced the start of a military operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon with multiple strikes on targets of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, with leaders saying the actions were necessary after the group refused to back down from its intentions to carry out attacks against the country.

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel “will not allow terrorist organizations to set the agenda in towns near the Gaza Strip and threaten the citizens of Israel.”[timesofisrael.com]

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