Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli army destroyed the entire top of the group "Islamic Jihad" in the Gaza Strip.
“Operation [Shield and Arrow] really went perfectly. Acting unexpectedly and constantly showing initiative, we destroyed the entire Islamic Jihad leadership in Gaza, 17 command centers belonging to them, eliminated dozens of terrorists, attacked missile depots, disabled anti-tank detachments and much more, ”Netanyahu said during the briefing.
Earlier, Palestine and Israel, through the mediation of Egypt, agreed that a ceasefire would begin on May 13 at 22:00. Despite this, an hour later the sides continued shelling. Islamic Jihad asked for an expansion of the ceasefire agreement, but Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Israel "didn't promise anything." In particular, the group demanded that they hand over the body of one of its commanders, Hader Adnan, who died in early May after an 86-day hunger strike in an Israeli prison. Also, Islamic Jihad insisted that Israel should stop targeted killings of their commanders.
Israel launched Operation Shield and Arrow on May 9, 2023. At 02:14 Israeli Air Force aircraft began attacking Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip. As a result of the attack, three high-ranking members of the Palestinian group were killed: the commander of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Abu Hadi-Khalil Al-Bakhitini, the secretary of the Jihad Shaker Military Council, Diab Ghannem, and Tarek Ezz al-Din. In addition to members of Islamic Jihad, 10 more people were killed, including civilians. In total, at least 24 Palestinians died in the first three days of the Shield and Arrow.
