Palestinian Jihad movement targets Israeli military gathering

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said Friday that Palestinian factions targeted an Israeli military gathering with “heavy-caliber shells."

“The Palestinian resistance declares its responsibility for targeting gatherings of enemy vehicles and soldiers with heavy caliber shells, and confirms direct hits,” the al-Quds Brigades said in a statement.

There were no further details regarding the location or timing of the attacks.

According to an Anadolu reporter, thick black smoke was seen rising from the Nahal Oz area where Israeli military vehicles were stationed behind the separation fence east of Gaza City.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side about the Al-Quds Brigades' statements.

According to the Israeli army radio, Israeli fighter jets hit four military outposts of the Islamic Jihad group as well as mortar and rocket launch sites in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian factions continue to fire rocket barrages at Israeli military sites, settlements and cities, in response to the continued air raids on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli side on Friday told Egyptian mediators of the cessation of cease-fire negotiations as the conflict between the Israeli military and Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza continues to escalate.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 31 people, including six children and three women, have been killed, and 93 others, including 32 children and 17 women, have been injured in the last four days of Israeli forces air attacks.

Israel's national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, reported that a rocket on Thursday fired from Gaza struck a residential building in the central Israeli city of Rehovot, causing one death and injuring five others.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi