JERUSALEM — Israel launched surprise airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing three leaders of the Islamic Jihad militant organization and 10 others, according to Palestinian health officials. As Palestinian armed groups vowed to retaliate, the region braced for an escalation of violence.
“We’re at the height of an operation,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement soon afterward.
Israel said the morning strikes, carried out a week after it reached a cease-fire with Palestinian armed factions, targeted Khalil Bahtini, Jehad Ghanam and Tareq Izzeldeen — senior Islamic Jihad members who the IDF said were responsible for recent rocket fire and attacks against Israelis.
At a security conference earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu said archenemy Iran was attempting a “multifront campaign” against Israel, according to Israeli media. Islamic Jihad is backed by Iran. Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules Gaza and is the dominant armed faction in the strip, also has received backing from Iran.
Four women and four children were among those killed in the morning strikes, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. It said Israel was blocking the entry of diagnostic medical equipment, hindering Gazan hospitals’ ability to treat the at least 20 people injured in the strikes.
Among the children killed, according to Palestinian media reports, were Bahtini’s 5-year-old daughter and two of Izzeldeen’s young children, whose ages were not given.
Israeli military officials said they were aware of reports of civilian deaths and would investigate.
Palestinian militants warned of repercussions, raising the possibility of a drawn-out conflict. Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, said Israel would “pay the price.”
“Assassinating leaders with a treacherous operation will not bring security to the occupier, but rather more resistance,” Haniyeh said in a statement.
Islamic Jihad said in a statement that “the Palestinian response to this heinous aggressive massacre will not be delayed.” It vowed that “the al-Quds Brigades and the resistance will never be complacent in the face of this pure blood.” The al-Quds Brigades is the military wing of the Islamic Jihad.
Israeli military leaders said they were ready to call up reserve units, raising the specter of a prolonged escalation. Schools and universities across Israel were shuttered for the day, and roads near the Gaza border were closed.
Islamic Jihad members have retaliated with rocket strikes after past Israeli attacks on their leaders, and the IDF Home Front Command told Israelis living near the Gaza border to remain close to shelters until Wednesday.
Some Israeli families began evacuating from communities close to the Palestinian enclave, according to media reports, and some hospitals moved patients into fortified areas. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told local leaders to be “prepared for every scenario.”
Bahtini served as commander of the northern branch of the al-Quds Brigades, replacing a leader who was assassinated by Israel in August. Ghanam, who had survived five assassination attempts, trained Islamic Jihad militants in Lebanon and Sudan.
Izzeldeen, who was released in a 2011 prisoner exchange in which more than 1,000 Palestinian inmates were traded for an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas, was from Arraba, a village near the West Bank city of Jenin. The village was the hometown of a high-profile Islamic Jihad leader, Khader Adnan, whose death last week after an 87-day hunger strike in Israeli custody prompted an exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza.
Israel and Gaza had maintained a fragile truce since last week’s exchange of fire after Adnan’s death, which Palestinian officials called a “deliberate assassination.”
Netanyahu has been criticized by other members of his far-right government for what they see as an overly tentative response to the rocket fire and other recent terrorist attacks.
“It’s about time!” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tweeted Tuesday after the morning airstrikes. His Jewish Power party had been boycotting parliamentary votes in recent days to protest the cease-fire.
Israeli officials told their Egyptian counterparts that their attacks were aimed at Islamic Jihad leaders and that they were not seeking a wider conflict, Israeli media reported. Hamas will determine the scope of any further escalation, Israel said.
“The big question is Hamas and what they decide to do,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an IDF spokesman.
The United Nations’ chief representative in the region said he was “deeply alarmed” by the unexpected attacks and was working with all sides to head off a new surge in violence.
“I condemn the deaths of civilians in the Israeli airstrikes,” said Tor Wennesland, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. “This is unacceptable.”
The IDF said that the airstrikes had been planned since the recent rocket fire and that the timing was guided by weather and intelligence on the militant commanders’ movements.
“What we wanted to achieve, we achieved,” Hecht said. “We don’t know where it will go. We are ready for as long as it takes.”
About 40 helicopters and planes took part in the strikes. In addition to the locations of the Islamic Jihad targets, they hit several sites that Israel said were militant infrastructure, including a rocket-manufacturing site in the Khan Younis refugee camp and a cement plant.
Israel said the three militant leaders were involved in orchestrating recent attacks on Israel and planning for future ones. They were killed while in apartments — two in Gaza City, in the enclave’s crowded north, and one in Rafah to the south — and the strikes were designed for “pinpoint” precision, Hecht said.
But in Gaza’s densely packed neighborhoods, surrounding buildings and apartments are frequently damaged in strikes. Images shared by Palestinian civil defense groups showed teams in Rafah and Gaza City working to rescue people trapped in the debris. Photos circulating on social media showed dead and wounded civilians, including children said to have been relatives of the targeted men. The Washington Post could not immediately verify the images.
Among the civilians reported killed was a prominent dentist, Jamal Khaswan, along with his wife and son. The IDF said Khaswan was not a target but was apparently in a nearby apartment.
Violence has intensified this year between Israel and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza under Netanyahu’s new government, sworn in in December.
Settler leaders who are part of the hard-line government have advocated policies to expand Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. In April, there were fears of a regional war after Palestinian militant groups in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza fired rockets into Israel, prompting retaliatory airstrikes.
This year has been one of the deadliest in recent memory for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. Since January, at least 95 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces or settlers. At least 17 Israelis and one foreign national have been killed by Palestinians.
Rubin reported from Tel Aviv, and Masih from Seoul. Miriam Berger in Washington and Hazem Balousha in Gaza City contributed to this report.