The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday they are prepared for a “week of fighting” after Israel began striking targets in Gaza the previous day. They added that there are no peace talks at the moment.
The IDF said that more than 160 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since Friday afternoon. The Iron Dome missile defense system destroyed 95% of the rockets mid-air, Brigadier General Ran Kochav, the spokesman for the defense forces, said.
The mission, ‘Operation Breaking Dawn’, was launched in response to “the imminent threat of attack against Israeli civilians posed by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” according to the IDF.
Kochav said the Israeli military struck 40 targets, including “five rocket launching pads and six stores or rocket production sites,” adding that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) senior commander Tayseer al-Jabari was among the operatives killed.
“The State of Israel is working to defend its citizens and that we will operate decisively and with as great precision as possible against terror operatives and infrastructure,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz tweeted.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, said it fired 60 rockets at Israeli cities “in response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza,” as quoted by Al Jazeera.