Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz today instructed the army to continue the offensive against the extremist Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, his cabinet announced.
"The Ministry of Defense has given instructions to continue offensive efforts against Islamic Jihad with an emphasis on countering rocket fire on Israel," it was announced after the minister's meeting with Israel's Chief of General Staff Aviv Kohavi and other senior military and security officials.
Around noon, Israeli warplanes intensified attacks in Gaza, AP reported.
After warning the residents by phone calls, the planes dropped two bombs on the house of an Islamic Jihad member, razing it to the ground and severely damaging the surrounding homes. Women and children fled from that place. In the second attack, the Islamic Jihad target was hit.
Gantz also gave instructions to help residents of southern Israel, which has been under fire from Gaza since last night, Israeli media reported.
Missile warning sirens also sounded today in the central Israeli city of Modin, surrounding towns and the port city of Ashkelon, as the range of rocket fire appeared to have extended. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic extremist Hamas, announced a little earlier that 11 people were killed and 80 wounded in Israeli airstrikes that began yesterday.
Among the victims are a five-year-old girl and the Islamic Jihad commander who was in charge of the north of the Gaza Strip, Taisir al-Jabari. He was killed in a targeted attack on Friday.
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The Israeli military said the commander was killed when it became clear that an attack on Israel that he had organized was imminent. It was also stated that other Islamic Jihad operatives were killed in a series of Israeli attacks.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, criticized the world organization's Middle East envoy, Tor Venesland, after he expressed concern over the killing of the Islamic Jihad commander.
"As Islamic Jihad fires rockets at Israeli civilians, UN envoy expresses deep concern to neutralize terrorist behind imminent attack on Israelis," Erdan tweeted.
Israel's ambassador questioned whether the UN envoy would also express concern about the "neutralization of Ayman al-Zawahiri," alluding to the recent killing of the al-Qaeda leader in a US strike.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued raids in other Palestinian territories in the occupied West Bank and arrested 19 Palestinians linked to Islamic Jihad last night.
The latest conflict in Gaza began after several days of tension and threats by Islamic Jihad due to the arrest of one of the organization's leaders in the West Bank.
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