• The health ministry in Gaza says that at least eight Palestinians, including a child and a PIJ commander, have been killed.
• It comes after days of tension after an important PIJ member was arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank.
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• The PIJ had said it would respond by bombing the centre of Israel.

The Israeli military says it is attacking Gaza Strip targets because a Palestinian militant group there has made threats.

The health ministry in Gaza says that at least eight Palestinians, including a child and a PIJ commander, have been killed.

It comes after days of tension after an important PIJ member was arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank.

The PIJ, which is based in Gaza, had said it would respond by bombing the centre of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that terrorist groups would not be able to tell Israel what to do.

“Let anyone who rises up to harm Israel know that we will get to them. Our security forces will act against Islamic Jihad terrorists to remove the threat from the citizens of Israel,” he said.

Local health officials say that since the strikes began, four PIJ militants, including the group’s leader Tayseer Jabari, and a five-year-old girl have been killed.

Ayelet Shaked, who is Israel’s minister of the interior, told Channel 12 News: “We don’t know what will happen… but it might take a while… This could be a long and hard round of fighting “, said the Times of Israel.

In the past few days, Israel has increased security near its border with Gaza, warning that PIJ planned to attack civilians and soldiers. Towns and villages in southern Israel had to stop moving because of the roadblocks.

The PIJ is one of the most powerful militant groups in Gaza. It is backed by Iran and has its headquarters in Damascus, Syria. It has been behind a lot of attacks on Israel, like firing rockets and shooting at people.

In November 2019, Israel and PIJ fought for five days after Israel killed a PIJ commander who, according to Israel, was planning an attack that would happen soon. 34 Palestinians died and 111 were hurt in the fighting, while 63 Israelis needed medical care.

Israel said that 25 of the Palestinians who were killed were militants, including some who were killed while getting ready to fire rockets.