Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed on Tuesday at least nine civilians, including four children, and three senior Islamic Jihad commanders, Palestinian officials said.
Hours after the Gaza operation, military forces raided the West Bank city of Nablus, one of the focal points of months of confrontation between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters.
A Gaza health official said at least 12 people had been killed and 20 wounded in the strikes that hit residential areas in the densely populated strip in which 2.3 million Palestinians live on a patch of 365 square kilometres (140 square miles).
An Israeli military spokesman said the army was looking into reports of civilian deaths but had no immediate comment.
“We’re aware of some collateral and we’ll learn more as the day goes ahead,” he told a briefing with reporters.
Islamic Jihad identified the commanders killed as Jihad Ghannam, Khalil Al-Bahtini and Tareq Izzeldeen.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse