Renewing its strikes on Gaza on Saturday, the Israeli military said it was prepared for a "week of operations," while the Islamic Jihad group continued to fire rockets from the enclave towards southern and central Israel.
The big picture: At least 24 Palestinians, including several children and two senior Islamic Jihad officials, have been killed and over 120 wounded since the fighting began on Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said without differentiating between civilian and militant casualties.
- The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed Khalid Mansour, the Islamic Jihad military commander in the southern Gaza Strip. On Friday, Israel killed Tayseer al-Jabari, another senior commander of the armed group.
- At least five Palestinians, including at least three children, were killed late Saturday local time in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia. Palestinian officials said they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, while an Israeli military spokesperson said there was no strike in the area at that time and that according to radar data and other information, including video, the incident was caused by a rocket that was fired by Palestinian militants and fell inside Gaza.
- An IDF spokesperson shared a video he said showed the rocket fired by the Palestinian militants failing and hitting Gaza.
- A 5-year-old girl was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday.
- IDF spokesperson Ran Kochav said in a briefing with reporters on Saturday morning that Israel is not holding any ceasefire negotiations. He said the IDF is preparing for a week-long operation that could take longer if needed.
Driving the news: The latest violence began on Friday after Israel...