On Sunday morning, according to the army, for the first time since the start of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, an air alert was triggered in the region around Jerusalem - which is around 60 kilometers as the crow flies from the Gaza Strip. According to military reports, the warning sirens wailed around the city in the morning. Residents reported explosions. According to the military, more than 400 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel since Friday.
It had been feared that the situation could deteriorate further on Sunday – the Jewish day of fasting and mourning, Tisha BeAv. Religious Jews mourn the destruction of the two ancient temples in Jerusalem on the day. In the evening, the ruling Islamist Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip called for the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount to be "defended and opposed to Israeli attacks on the holy site". The Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. So far, Hamas has held back in the recent conflict with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes were primarily aimed at the second largest Palestinian organization in the Gaza Strip, Islamic Jihad. The Israeli military launched the large-scale "Dawn" military action against Islamic Jihad on Friday. The group, which is closely linked to Israel's arch-enemy Iran, has been classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US. The military chief Taisir al-Jabari and other PIJ members were killed in the action. The group, which is closely linked to Israel's arch-enemy Iran, has been classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US.
Israel's army now claims to have also killed another military chief of the militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad's southern commander Khalid Mansur was killed in an airstrike in the city of Rafah, the military said Sunday morning. Two other senior jihadists were also killed, including Mansur's deputy. "In the past few days, Mansur has been working on preparing an attack on Israel with an anti-tank missile and missiles," the statement said. He is also responsible for terrorist attacks in the past.
The army also attacked several targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night. In the Israeli border towns on the edge of the Gaza Strip there was another rocket alarm on Sunday morning. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 29 people have died since Friday. At least 253 were injured. Among the dead are six children and four women, along with other PIJ members. The Israeli authorities disputed the death toll and blamed a failed rocket attack by the Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad for the deaths of several Palestinian children in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.
Islamic Jihad responded to the attacks and also fired numerous rockets towards Israel. On Sunday morning, according to the army, for the first time since the beginning of the most recent confrontation, an air alert was triggered in the region around Jerusalem - which is around 60 kilometers as the crow flies from the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks shortly thereafter. On Saturday, air raid sirens also blared in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, and Islamic Jihad confirmed "extensive rocket attacks" on the city.
Most of the missiles were deflected by the Israeli missile defense shield, but security forces said on Saturday two people were slightly injured as a result of a shrapnel attack. Israel describes its attacks on the Gaza Strip as a "preemptive attack" against Islamic Jihad, which planned attacks against Israel. According to the Israeli army, 15 militants were killed in attacks on the organization's sites. In addition, a total of 40 members were arrested in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
