Israel strikes Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza despite ceasefire

By S M Last updated Nov 16, 2019

Al-Qarara: A Palestinian youth stands amid the crater of a destroyed house following overnight Israeli missile strikes, in Al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. AP/PTI(AP11_14_2019_000223B)

Israel has begun another round of airstrikes on targets linked to Islamic Jihad in Gaza despite a ceasefire that came into effect yesterday.

In a WhatsApp message to reporters, the Israeli Army said the Israeli Defence Force, IDF is currently striking Islamic Jihad terror targets in the Gaza strip. Counter-attack by Israel began after Islamic Jihad fired a number of rockets into Israel.

The ceasefire had been agreed between Israel and the Palestinian armed group after two days of fighting in Gaza that began after Israel killed a top Islamic Jihad commander in an air raid. The announcement by the Israeli military suggested that the ceasefire, reportedly brokered by Egypt, was breaking down.

Gaza medical officials have put the death toll from the two days of fighting at 34, almost half of them Palestinians civilians and including eight children and three women.