A rocket launched by Palestinian terror operatives Saturday misfired and hit a Palestinian home in the Strip’s north, killing several people including children, military officials said.
Initial reports from Gaza claimed an Israeli strike in the Jabaliya refugee camp had killed seven civilians, including four children. Photos circulating on social media showed seven body bags.
But military officials said the Israel Defense Forces had not conducted any airstrike in the area in recent hours, and that rocket detection systems had shown the rocket launch and then explode inside the refugee camp.
“On our radar, we see the launch and impact and can see it was them failing and hitting themselves,” a spokesman said.
A second official added: “We have videos that prove beyond any doubt that this is not an Israeli attack. It has been unequivocally proven that it was a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch.”
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The Head of the Prime Minister’s Office’s Public Diplomacy Directorate israel Elad Tene added: “All fire by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is a double war crime: it is shooting at civilians, and using Gazan civilians as human shields.
“This incident is an example of Islamic Jihad harming the residents of Gaza. All harm to innocent civilians is tragic.”
Channel 12 aired a video shared on social media that it said appeared to show the failed launch, citing the time and location it was taken. The authenticity of the video could not be independently confirmed.
صاروخ يرتد على حركة الجهاد الاسلامي بعد
محاوله فاشله لاطلاقه على اسرائيل.انا صراحةً مستغرب من المقطع و ابي اعرف
نوع الصاروخ؟pic.twitter.com/1iahWJiCHX
— sulaiman.am ????????♂️????☠️???????? (@sulaiman_am0) August 6, 2022
Palestinian terrorists have launched over 350 rockets at Israel since Friday as part of a flareup between the sides. According to the IDF, some 90 rockets have fallen short in the Gaza Strip since Friday.
The Israeli air force has conducted numerous strikes in Gaza targeting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group as part of Operation Breaking Dawn launched Friday to tackle what Israeli leaders said was an immediate concrete threat by the PIJ to Israeli communities.
مشاهد من مكان قصف الاحتلال الأخير قرب مسجد عماد عقل في جباليا شمال قطاع غزة حيث ارتقى عدد من الشهداء والجرحى pic.twitter.com/pFPLV1BrR3
— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) August 6, 2022
The operation was launched after several days of closures and lockdowns in Israeli communities near the Strip due to the alert of an imminent attack, with the PIJ seeking to avenge the arrest of its West Bank leader earlier in the week.
Israeli leaders said the operation was started because the PIJ had refused to back down from its plans to attack Israeli targets at the border.
