A series of Israeli air strikes on Gaza over a 24-hour period killed nine Palestinians and injured 30, a spokesman for the enclave's emergency services told AFP on Thursday. Adham Abu Selmiya said nine people had been killed in a series of raids across the strip that ended before dawn on Thursday. Among the dead, at least two were Islamic Jihad militants.
The first attack on Wednesday hit a car in the southern city of Rafah, killing 34-year old Jihad militant Ismail al-Ismar. Later, medics found the body of Ismail Amum, a 65-year-old civilian who was killed during an earlier raid near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. During the evening, the air force struck a target in Gaza City, killing another Jihad militant, 20-year-old Atiya Muqat; one more strike on Rafah killed Hisham Abu Har, a civilian working inside the cross-border smuggling tunnels.