Israel kills another Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza strikes as truce efforts falter
- Netanyahu warns ‘this round is not over’ as Israel and Gaza militants trade heavy cross-border fire
- Egypt, which has mediated in previous rounds of fighting, has attempted to broker a ceasefire
Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed a fourth militant commander on Thursday, raising the death toll from the latest burst of fighting to 25.
Israel braced for more rocket fire amid reports of faltering Egyptian attempts to broker a ceasefire.
It has been the worst bout of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza in months, and among the dead were also women and children. The conflagration comes at a time of soaring tensions and spiking violence over the past year in the West Bank.
Early on Thursday, the Israeli military carried out strikes against the Islamic Jihad militant group and said a senior commander in charge of the group’s rocket launching force, Ali Ghali, was killed when his flat was hit.
According to Palestinian media reports, the strikes targeted the last floor of a building at a residential, Qatari-built complex in southern Gaza Strip, killing at least two people, including the commander. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 25 people had been killed since the fighting erupted.