At least 15 Palestinians, including three commanders of the militant Islamic Jihad organization, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian health officials said eight women and children were among the dead. Another 22 people were injured.
Israel said it had launched an operation targeting militants who pose an immediate threat to its citizens.
Islamic Jihad has vowed to retaliate and Gaza-based militants are expected to fire rockets into Israel.
The extent of any escalation depends on whether Hamas, which controls Gaza, decides to get involved.
Israeli officials are said to be preparing for days of fighting.
The attacks were the deadliest since three days of hostilities between Israel and Islamic Jihad last August, in which 49 Palestinians were killed in Gaza.
The latest strikes came early Tuesday morning, when 40 Israeli warplanes and helicopters struck Gaza in several waves, hitting homes and causing panic among residents.
Pictures show at least two apartments with their facades blown off and others damaged.
Gaza’s health ministry said four children and four women were among the dead. He added that half of the injured are women and children and many are in critical condition who are being treated in hospital.
The office of Russia’s representative in the Palestinian territories announced that one of its citizens, Dr. Jamal Khuswan, the former chairman of the Gaza Dentists Association, was killed along with his wife Marwat and their 21-year-old son Yusuf.
He said that two more children survived him. Among them was 10-year-old daughter Diala, who sat in the front seat of the ambulance and cried for her father.
A friend and colleague of Dr. Khaswan’s, Dr. Wafai Al-Soussi, condemned what he called the “cowardly targeting” of the family.
“I was very surprised,” he told JEE News. “He was just an incredible doctor… with a good reputation. He didn’t belong to any political party and he had never worked with any military establishment. “What?”
Palestinian sources said Dr. Khuswan lived near one of the dead militants in an apartment in Gaza City.
The Quds Brigade, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, has confirmed the death of three of its commanders along with their wives and several of their children. He identified them as follows:
- Secretary of the Military Council of Al-Quds Brigades, Jihad Shakir Al-Ghanam
- Khalil Salah al-Batni, the commander of its northern region
- Tariq Mohammad Ezzedine, “One of the Leaders of the Military Operation” in the Occupied West Bank
“We affirm that the blood of martyrs will increase our resolve,” Quds Brigades said. “We will not give up our position, and God willing the resistance will continue.”
A large number of mourners participated in the funeral prayer after the noon prayer.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said one of its aircraft targeted a “terrorist contingent” carrying an anti-tank guided missile to a firing site in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that two people were killed and two were injured.
