Israeli braces for rocket fire after at least 13 killed in airstrikes

Israel was bracing for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night after three senior Islamic Jihad commanders were killed, along with at least 10 other residents, in airstrikes in the early hours of Tuesday.

Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in a live televised address on Tuesday night, warned the militant groups in Gaza against attacking Israel. “We choose the time and place to hit our enemies. Any escalation on your part will be met with a crushing response on our part.”

Israeli military spokespeople announced that as far as Israel was concerned the pinpoint airstrikes marked the end of the action, dubbed operation Shield and Arrow, but another two militants were killed when Israel targeted a car they were driving close to the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The Israeli army said the two were preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket into Israel.

The Israeli air strikes began at 2am on Tuesday with simultaneous targeted missile attacks on the Islamic Jihad commanders who were sleeping in their homes – two in Gaza city and one in Rafah, at the southern tip of Gaza. Some 40 aircraft were involved and the three homes were hit within seconds of each other, based on precise intelligence information.

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Palestinian health officials said eight women and children were among the dead and 20 people were injured, half of them women and children – some in serious condition. Ten Islamic Jihad infrastructure and weapons and rockets factories were attacked.

The three senior commanders killed were named as Khalil al-Bahtini, the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s northern sector; Tarek Az Aldin, responsible for Islamic Jihad activities in the West Bank from a base in Gaza; and Jihad Ghannam, secretary of the group’s military council.

Thousands of mourners attended the funerals of those killed on Tuesday afternoon. An umbrella group of militant groups in Gaza said in a statement that those responsible should “prepare to pay the price”.

A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said the Israeli government “bears full responsibility for this dangerous escalation”.

The decision to hit Islamic Jihad leaders followed the firing of more than 100 rockets into Israel from Gaza last week after the death of a Palestinian security prisoner, Khader Adnan, who was on hunger strike for almost three months.

Revenge rocket fire from Islamic Jihad into Israel is almost inevitable but the key question is whether Hamas, which rules Gaza and has a much more extensive military capability, will join in the current round. Hamas officials warned that the response would be “united and comprehensive” but the Gaza leadership was reportedly more hesitant to join in the fighting than the Hamas leadership abroad.

Israeli officials warned that days of fighting may lie ahead. Residents of southern Israel within a 40km range of Gaza were ordered to stay close to bomb shelters. Thousands left for central Israel to stay with relatives or friends. Roads close to the border were closed and trains in the south were cancelled.