Gaza: After three days of escalating violence that killed 31 Palestinians and militants launched their first rockets into Jerusalem, Israel continued its bombing of Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Health officials in the Islamist-controlled enclave reported that 265 people, including six children, were injured as a result of the latest "Israeli invasion" since Friday.

The battle to hit Gaza is the worst since last year's conflict, which left the 2.3 million Palestinians living there in poverty and forced Israelis to take cover with rockets.

Israel continued to carry out aerial and artillery bombardments on the status of Islamic Jihad, a group backed by Iran and listed as a terrorist organization by several Western countries. In response, the group fired more than 500 rockets at Israeli targets.

All have been neutralized, according to the Israeli military, the senior leadership of Islamic Jihad's military wing in Gaza. Prime Minister Yair Lapid promised on Sunday that the operation would continue "as long as necessary."

The ministry reported that 31 people had been killed since the start of Israel's "Operation Breaking Dawn" in Gaza, controlled by the Islamist organization Hamas, which on Sunday declared it was "uniting" with Islamic Jihad but in conflict. did not attend.

Israel claimed it had "inconclusive" evidence that a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad on Saturday killed several children in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

Although the number of children killed there was not immediately known, an AFP photographer saw six bodies, including three children, at a nearby hospital.

Asked about the devastation in Jabaliya, Muhammad Abu Sadah recalled, "We were sitting in the street when suddenly we saw an explosion.

We immediately rushed to the spot and found the broken parts of the children's bodies lying on the ground. The army claimed to have struck 139 Islamic Jihad targets, during which terrorists launched 470 rockets into Israel and another 115 rockets landed inside areas blocked by Gaza.

Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al Quds Brigade, claimed to have "rocketed" into Jerusalem, where the military shot them down while sirens and explosions could be heard.

Israel claimed that its Iron Dome air defense system had successfully intercepted a total of 185 rockets with a success rate of 97 percent.
In the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, also known as the Temple Mount in Judaism, Jews observe Tisha Biw fasting day on Sunday. Some Palestinians shouted "God is the greatest" in response.

Tensions have previously resulted in widespread violence there; Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Doha-based Hamas, has warned of the possibility of an "uncontrollable" security crisis.

Despite tight security, Israeli police briefly detained the AFP photographer, but other commemorations went off without a hitch.

Israel has claimed that as Islamic Jihad was preparing for an imminent attack, it was necessary to conduct a "pre-emptive" operation against the organization.

"Anyone who tries to harm Israeli civilians will be harmed," Defense Minister Benny Gantz said.
While Gantz claimed that the attacks would continue "until we calm down and address the threats," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi claimed that Cairo was in constant contact with both sides and trying to stop the violence.

Taisir al-Jabri in Gaza City and Khalid Mansour in Rafa to the south were among senior Islamic Jihad leaders who were reportedly killed by Israeli forces. Twenty members were also reportedly detained in the West Bank.

Israel's Lapid referred to Mansour's death as an "extraordinary achievement".

The only power plant in the Gaza Strip has been forced to shut down due to a fuel shortage, as Israel closed its border crossing, ending daily life there.

The health ministry in Gaza warned that the coming hours would be "critical and difficult", adding that without electricity, there is an immediate chance that essential services could be suspended.

Dunia Ismail, a Gaza City local, said the Israeli airstrikes "bring back images of fear, anxiety and the feeling that we are alone."

According to the Magan David Edom emergency service, civilians in southern and central Israel were forced to take shelter in air raid shelters. Two people were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, and 13 others suffered minor injuries during evacuation.

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