The death toll rose to 21 as Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip retaliated following airstrikes by the Israeli military, AFP reported.
On the 10th (local time), the Israeli military stated that it struck over 100 targets, including rocket and mortar launchers of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
Israel added that it also fired at armed group members moving toward rocket launchers in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza City.
According to the Gaza Strip Ministry of Health, the airstrikes killed a total of six people, including one young girl and four members of the far-left armed group Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), bringing the cumulative death toll over two days to 21. The number of injured was reported to be 64.
Palestinian armed groups also launched hundreds of missiles in retaliation. In southern Gaza, medium-range rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv in central Israel were fired.
As a result, air raid alerts were issued in southern Israeli cities near the separation barrier, including Sderot and Ashkelon, as well as in the Tel Aviv area about 60 km away from the Gaza Strip. Most rockets were intercepted by low-altitude air defense systems, but some crossed the separation barrier and landed in Israel. However, Israel claimed that only three rockets fell on its territory.
This rocket attack and airstrike marked the most intense armed conflict in months, developing into a near full-scale war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the possibility of escalation, stating, "We are preparing for the possibility of an expanded attack on the Gaza Strip."
In August last year, fighting lasted three days in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of 49 Palestinians.
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