Israel Says Misfired Islamic Jihad Rocket Killed 5 Gazan Palestinians, 4 of Them Children

At least five people, including four children, were killed and 15 others injured on Saturday night by an explosion in Jabaliya’s refugee camp, according to Palestinian sources.

Israel said the explosion was a result of a rocket launched toward Israel by the Islamic Jihad group that misfired and fell short, failing to cross the Gaza-Israel border and instead hitting a Palestinian home in the Jabalia neighborhood. An Israeli military spokesperson said the Israeli Air Force did not carry out any airstrikes in Jabaliya at the time of the incident.

The Israeli military says at least 350 rockets have been fired toward Israel since Friday. No injuries or major damage was reported; more than 95% of the rockets were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems, Israel said.

Palestinian authorities say at least 15 people were killed and over 125 people injured in the Gaza Strip since Friday.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a press statement that it holds the Israeli government “fully and directly responsible for the aggression and crimes it perpetrated in Gaza.”

An Egyptian intelligence delegation headed by Maj. Gen. Ahmed Abdelkhaliq arrived in Israel on Saturday and will travel to Gaza for mediation talks, Egyptian security sources said.

The fighting began on Friday afternoon when the Israeli Air Force bombed a residential apartment in a Palestinian tower in central Gaza, killing Tayseer al-Jabari, commander of Saraya al-Quds, Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, and three of his aides. This followed several days of heightened tensions and a lockdown on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, after Islamic Jihad issued threats to launch attacks along the Israel-Gaza Strip border and in central Israel. The threats came in response to Israel’s arrest of Bassam al-Saadi, a senior Islamic Jihad commander in the West Bank last Monday night.