GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip —On Wednesday, Palestinian militants launched numerous rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel while Israel responded with a series of airstrikes that resulted in the deaths of 23 Palestinians, including civilians and senior militants.
Despite an announcement from a state-run Egyptian TV station that a cease-fire had been brokered, both sides continued fighting with no indication of stopping.
Early Thursday, the Israeli military reported targeting and killing Ali Ghali, the commander of Islamic Jihad's rocket squad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel had inflicted a severe blow to the militants, but warned that the situation was not yet resolved.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to the militants, claiming that Israel would choose the time and place to strike them.
Rocket fire set off air-raid sirens throughout southern and central Israel throughout the day, pushing the region closer to a full-blown war.
However, in signs of restraint, Israel avoided attacks on the ruling Hamas militant group, targeting only the smaller Islamic Jihad faction.
Despite reports of a brokered cease-fire by Egypt, Islamic Jihad stated that it would continue firing rockets, with a sticking point being that the Palestinians wanted an Israeli commitment to stop targeted killing operations.
As rockets were fired from Gaza, Israeli TV broadcasted air defense systems intercepting rockets in the skies over Tel Aviv. The Israeli military reported that the David's Sling air defense system had intercepted a rocket for the first time, while the Iron Dome system continued to intercept most of the incoming rockets.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials stated that over 400 rockets had been fired, with a quarter of them misfired and falling within Gaza. Three people were injured while running for shelter, and four homes in southern Israel were damaged by rocket strikes.
Additionally, tensions could rise with the approval of a Jewish ultranationalist parade through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem next week, which often leads to friction with local Palestinians.
Israeli schools in southern Israel will remain closed, large gatherings will remain restricted, and residents are advised to stay near bomb shelters until at least Friday, according to the army.
Following Israel's second consecutive day of airstrikes on Gaza, killing at least five Palestinians, residents of the southern Israeli town of Sderot, such as 26-year-old Eden Avramov, said that they were "traumatized" by the waiting, booms, and alarms.
The Israeli military said it targeted dozens of rocket launchers, arms warehouses, and other targets across the enclave, killing four militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Israel has stated that it is trying to prevent a conflict with Hamas, the more dominant militant group that governs Gaza, and limit the fighting to the group known as Islamic Jihad.
According to Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, "Our actions are intended to prevent further escalation. Israel is not interested in war."
An umbrella organization of Palestinian factions in Gaza, which includes Hamas, issued a statement that the campaign against Israel, which they have named "Avenging the Free," involves firing hundreds of rockets in response to Israel's killing of the three commanders of the jihadist group as well as several civilians.
The factions have stated that "The resistance is ready for all options," and that "if (Israel) persists in its aggression and arrogance, dark days await it."
It is still unclear whether Hamas has joined the fighting. If the dominant militant group enters the conflict, the risk of a full-blown conflict would increase.
Israel has been criticized internationally for the high civilian toll on Tuesday, which included wives of two of the militant commanders, some of their children, and a dentist who lived in one of the targeted buildings with his wife and son.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the military reported that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at troops in the Palestinian town of Qabatiya in the northern West Bank during an army raid. Troops returned fire, killing the two men and confiscating their firearms, it said.
Later, Islamic Jihad claimed the two men as its members.
For over a year, Israel has been conducting near-daily military raids in the occupied West Bank to detain suspected Palestinian militants, including many from the jihadist group.
According to an Associated Press tally, at least 107 Palestinians, about half of them militants, have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year. At least 20 people have been killed in attacks by Palestinians targeting Israelis.
Israel seized the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three territories for a future independent state.