Gaza City: According to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory, Israel's army said it carried out pre-dawn airstrikes against the militant organisation Islamic Jihad in Gaza on Tuesday, which resulted in the deaths of 12.

The ministry stated that women and children were among the deceased, but it did not provide any additional information regarding the victims' identities.

After the strikes, an AFP journalist in Gaza observed a building's top on fire and ambulances transporting victims.The Israeli army claimed to have attacked "weapon manufacturing sites" owned by Islamic Jihad, which it categorises as a terrorist organisation, and three of its leaders.

Also Read: Pakistan's custom intact! After Bhutto, Nawaz, Abbasi, now former PM Imran Khan arrested

Jihad Ghannam, the secretary of the Al-Quds Brigades military council, and Khalil Al-Bahtini, another member of the council and the commander of the military wing in northern Gaza, were among the three senior officials who were confirmed as having been killed by the militant group in a statement.

Islamic Jihad referred to the third, Tareq Ezzedine, as "one of the heads of military action" in the occupied West Bank who worked out of Gaza.A body of a man named Ghannam was discovered by an AFP photographer in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Islamic Jihad declared, "We mourn the leaders, their wives, and some of their children who were killed in a cowardly Zionist crime. The blood of martyrs will strengthen (the) resolve of the movement.

According to AFP journalists, the air strikes, which started a little after 2 a.m. (2300 GMT), were still ongoing nearly two hours later with a new explosion heard in the east.

The operation took place less than a week after Islamic Jihad announced a truce around Gaza that was mediated with assistance from Egypt in response to a new outburst of hostility.

Also Read: Actions afoot to repatriate body of Indian engineer killed in US shooting

After Khader Adnan, who had been on a hunger strike for 87 days after being detained due to connections to Islamic Jihad, passed away while being held by Israel, militants from Gaza and Israel exchanged cross-border fire.

The militant group announced on Tuesday that Israel had "scorned all the initiatives of mediators" and promised to "avenge the leaders" killed in the most recent airstrikes.

The Israeli army declared it would "continue to operate for the security of the civilians in the state of Israel" in separate statements that listed each member of the Islamic Jihad who had been killed.

Ghannan was described by the military as "one of the most senior members of the organisation," who "was entrusted with coordinating weapons and money transfers between the Hamas terrorist organisation" and his movement.

Israel claimed that Bahtini was "at fault" for the recent rocket attacks on Israel.

In the West Bank, where Ezzedine was raised and which Israel has been occupying since the 1967 Six-Day War, Ezzedine was recently "planning and direction (sic) multiple attacks against Israeli" civilians.

He was convicted of participating in suicide bombings in the 2000s and given a 25-year prison sentence by Israel. He was later released in a 2011 prisoner exchange and sent to Gaza, according to the army.The army advised Israeli citizens to remain near bomb shelters until Wednesday evening if they were more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Gaza border.

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, declared in a statement that "assassinating the leadership in a treacherous operation will not bring security to the occupier, but instead greater resistance."Hazem Qassem, a representative for the militant group, issued a warning that Israel "bears responsibility for the repercussions of this escalation."

Also Read: Indonesia wants to increase food exports to Saudi Arabia

Since Hamas seized control of the Palestinian enclave in 2007, there have been numerous wars between militants in Israel and Gaza.Last August, a three-day conflict in Gaza resulted in 49 Palestinian deaths but zero on the Israeli side.

With the deaths on Tuesday, there have now been 120 Palestinians killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year.According to an AFP count based on official sources from the two sides, 19 Israelis, one Ukrainian, and one Italian have died during the same period