Israel tells Egyptian mediators airstrikes in Gaza to continue — report

Israeli officials are said to have told Egyptian mediators that its airstrikes in the Gaza Strip will continue in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, Al-Arabiya reports (Arabic).

According to the Al Arabiya report, Egyptian mediators asked Israel to stop targeting senior terror leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group (PIJ).

A Middle Eastern diplomat told The Times of Israel earlier that Egypt is currently mediating between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in an effort to bring an end to the ongoing round of violence. A delegation from Cairo is slated to depart for Gaza tomorrow, the diplomat said.

Dozens of rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since Friday evening, sending residents of southern Israel into bomb shelters where many will spend the night.

The volleys came hours after the IDF launched Operation Breaking Dawn in Gaza on Friday with multiple strikes on targets of the PIJ, killing a senior commander, Tayseer Jabari, in one of them

Israel said the operation came in response to what leaders said was an ongoing “concrete” threat to target Israeli civilians and soldiers in Gaza-border areas.

“Jabari was responsible for the concrete threat in the last three-four days to fire anti-tank missiles and mow down Israeli civilians or soldiers in the Gaza border area,” IDF Spokesman Ran Kochav said Friday.