The IDF confirmed on Saturday night that senior Islamic Jihad operative Khaled Mansour had been eliminated by an IDF airstrike and that to the best of their knowledge, all senior Islamic Jihad officials in Gaza had been taken down as well.

Sirens blared in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening as the IDF continues Operation Breaking Dawn against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip as more than 350 rockets were launched toward Israel in the first full day of fighting between the two groups. 

The IDF confirmed that it was striking unspecified targets in Gaza on Saturday night, with blasts heard in Rafah.

Head of the Operations Directorate Maj.-Gen. Oded Basiuk confirmed late Saturday night that senior Islamic Jihad operative Khaled Mansour was the target of the strikes and had been eliminated. Further, he added that “according to our intelligence…all of the senior security operatives of Gaza’s Islamic Jihad have been eliminated.”

The IDF continued to strike cells that had been planning to fire mortar shells as well as rocket launching sites after they fired toward Israeli communities near the border. Several Palestinian operatives belonging to Islamic Jihad were killed and injured in the strikes.

According to reports in Gaza, several civilians were killed including a 5-year-old girl and a 25-year-old woman, and at least 125 more were injured.  

Explosion in Jabaliya refugee camp

An explosion in Jabaliya on Saturday night killed at least nine people, including at least four children. 

Despite initial reports stating that the deaths had been caused by an IDF strike, IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ran Kohav said that the civilians including the children who were killed seem to be because of a failed rocket launch that came shortly before a rocket barrage. “We did not launch strikes at that time,” he said. 

Sirens blared in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening as the IDF continues Operation Breaking Dawn against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip as more than 350 rockets were launched toward Israel in the first full day of fighting between the two groups. 

The first rockets were fired toward Israel shortly before 9 p.m. on Friday night, with sirens blaring in southern Israeli communities near the border as well as Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Yavne. Sirens were also activated in the central Israeli cities of Rishon Lezion, Holon and Bat Yam but the IDF later said that the sirens were a false alarm.

Rocket barrages continued throughout the day on Saturday with sirens also activated in the cities of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, Holon,  Modi’in, and multiple others.

By Saturday afternoon, over 350 rockets had been launched by the terror group toward Israel, with at least 227 crossing into the Jewish State, 162 that were heading toward residential areas were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. Others fell in open areas and 29 fell in the sea. Another 94 fell within the Strip itself.

A home in Sderot was directly hit by a rocket in the afternoon, but there were no injuries as the family, including their two children aged eight and three – had been in their bomb shelter.