Jerusalem24 – Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jabaliya north of Gaza City this morning, bringing the total number of fatalities to 31 since Israel started bombing Gaza on Friday afternoon, including six children and four women.
A further 265 people have been injured, including 96 children. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said over half of the injuries were moderate to severe.
Civil defense crews in Gaza have carried out 71 search and rescue operations so far.
A total of 1,600 residential units have been damaged. As of yesterday evening, 31 families had been left homeless.
Khaled Mansour, a prominent leader of the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was killed last night in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in an Israeli airstrike that claimed the lives of seven other Palestinians including children, and injured another 40.
Mansour is the second Islamic Jihad leader killed since Friday. The leader of the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Tayseer Al-Jabari, was killed in an attack on a residential building in Gaza City on Friday afternoon which also killed a 5-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman.
Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, two leaders with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were arrested when Israeli forces conducted a widescale campaign of arrests in the night from Saturday to Sunday, detaining over 20 Palestinians.
Elsewhere, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and occupied Jerusalem this morning, and rockets were spotted in the skies above Abu Ghosh being intercepted by the Iron Dome.
The Israeli Ministry of Health announced last night 28 Israelis had been treated for anxiety or light injuries resulting from running towards shelters.
Israeli Prime minister Yair Lapid held a joint meeting with Defense Minister Benny Gantz late last night during which he issued a statement concerning so-called “operation breaking dawn”, saying and I quote, “The operation will continue as long as necessary.”
According to Israeli journalist and military correspondent Alon Ben-David, Egypt will be mediating for a ceasefire within the next few hours. Other Israeli media outlets are reporting a ceasefire has already been brokered and will begin at 6am Monday morning.
