The worst fighting in months began on Tuesday, after Israel’s assassination of a senior Palestinian resistance commander.
Baha Abu al-Ata, 42, the commander of Al-Quds Brigades -- the Palestinian resistance movement of Islamic Jihad’s military wing -- and his wife were martyred during an Israeli aerial assault against his home in Gaza City in the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
In response, Islamic Jihad fired about 200 rockets into Israel throughout the day.
Reuters reported that further Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed eight more Palestinians.
Video recordings soon surfaced of tit-for-tat rocket barrages by Gaza-based Palestinian factions, and Israel’s so-called Iron Dome missile system struggling to intercept as many as possible.