Photo taken in Gaza City on Aug. 5, 2022 shows rockets fired toward Israel. Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Friday evening by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), all of which were either intercepted or fell in open areas, causing no injuries, the Israeli military said. Photo:Xinhua

Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Friday evening by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), all of which were either intercepted or fell in open areas, causing no injuries, the Israeli military said.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the PIJ launched some 80 rockets in southern Israel. Nearly half of them fell short in Gaza, and 46 crossed the border, of which 33 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, and the rest fell in open areas, causing no injuries.

The PIJ, an Islamist organization, claimed the firing of over 100 rockets at southern and central Israeli towns, saying the move was "just the beginning" of its response to the Israeli army's killing of its senior commander Tayseer al-Jabari in the afternoon.

At least 10 people, including a 5-year-old girl, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave on Friday afternoon, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, eyewitnesses, and the PIJ.

Renewed Israeli airstrikes were carried out throughout the evening, with the Israeli military saying the operation targeted "weapons production and storage facilities as well as shooting positions belonging to the Islamic Jihad."

"Israel isn't interested in a wider conflict in Gaza, but will not shy away from one either," said Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid in a televised statement on Friday evening after holding security consultations in Tel Aviv.

The heightened tension came after Israeli forces arrested a senior official of the PIJ in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday. The PIJ vowed to take revenge, prompting the Israeli military to raise its alert along the border with Gaza.

 

Smoke and fire are seen following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Aug. 5, 2022. Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Friday evening by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), all of which were either intercepted or fell in open areas, causing no injuries, the Israeli military said. Photo:Xinhua