Israel’s military killed the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket-launching force (PIJ) in an air strike pre-dawn on an apartment in Gaza.

In the attack on Khan Younis, the military confirmed that two other militants were killed.

Later, sirens sounded throughout southern Israel when rockets and mortars launched from Gaza. No injuries have been reported.

On Wednesday, militants launched 507 rockets and mortars against Israel. Israel also struck 158 PIJ-targets in Gaza.

Health officials in Gaza report that 25 people have died and 76 others injured since Israel launched its offensive against PIJ on Tuesday morning. The strikes killed three more of PIJ’s commanders.

The United Nations has condemned the deaths of at least 10 civilians.

Palestinian sources have not confirmed the Israeli military’s claim that four people were killed by falling rockets in Gaza on Wednesday.

Islamic Jihad called the claim “completely false” and said Israel was trying to avoid responsibility for the deaths of its members.

According to local health officials, there have not been any fatalities in Israel. However, several people were injured as they rushed to shelters.

Early morning Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis damaged and destroyed the apartment beneath the apartment that was destroyed.

Abdullah Samir Hummaid’s apartment, which was also damaged in the same building, had just gotten into bed, when he noticed “a bright flash of light turning the night into daylight, followed by two explosions within seconds”.

“Stones, glass, and debris fell on us. We couldn’t see anything and didn’t know who was where. “I could hear them screaming and yelling, calling out Daddy, Daddy,” he said to Reuters.

He added, “I crawled over to them and found them with their blankets covering their heads.” “I went with them outside. I came back and brought my wife and six-month-old daughter who was hit by glass and debris.”

The armed wing confirmed that Ali Hassan Ghali was killed in the attack. He is also known as Abu Mohammed. It described the assassination as a “treacherous Zionist act”.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, three people died and seven were injured. Palestinian media reported the other two dead as Ghali’s nephew and brother.

PIJ, the second largest militant group in Gaza, after Hamas (which controls the territory), is responsible for most of the rocket attacks against Israel in recent years.

Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it targeted Ghali, as well as two other “Islamic Jihad operatives” in Gaza.

The report described the commander as a “central figure” in the PIJ, who was “responsible” for recent rocket attacks against Israel.

Local officials reported that militants in Gaza later on Thursday fired 10 mortars, and five rockets, at nearby Israeli towns in the southern Eshkol Region Council.

They added that one of the rockets caused extensive damage to a chicken coop near a house.

Some rockets and mortars have been fired at homes and buildings. However, most of them have either landed on open ground or have been intercepted.

According to Israeli media, Israel’s Magen David Adom Ambulance Service reported that it had treated 32 patients as of Thursday morning. 15 of them were injured while trying to find shelter and 17 suffered from severe anxiety.

IDF claimed it had struck a number of targets that belonged to PIJ, including a control centre and an observatory post.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, warned on Wednesday night that Israel’s war campaign is not over.

He said that the death of three PIJ leaders on Tuesday, and the destruction of dozens rocket and mortar launchers belonging to the group were the “most significant blow” Islamic Jihad had ever received.

Islamic Jihad warned of dark days to come if Israel “increased their aggression”.

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that he is following the developments in Gaza with great concern and “condemns civilian deaths, including those of women and children, that he views as being unacceptable”.

She added, “The Secretary General urges all concerned parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to immediately stop hostilities.”

Egypt is trying to achieve a ceasefire with the other side.

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen said Wednesday that Israel was “assessing” an offer from Cairo. Palestinian factions want Israel to agree that it will stop “targeted killings”.

The fighting this week is the most intense since the three-day hostilities that took place between Israel and PIJ in August last year, during which 49 Palestinians died in Gaza.

Last week, there was a major flare-up, when PIJ, along with other groups, fired over 100 rockets at Israel in two days after a Palestinian prisoner who had been on a hunger strike died. In response, the Israeli military conducted airstrikes on sites they said were connected to Hamas.

Israel’s arrest raids on Wednesday also raised tensions in the West Bank occupied.

Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in Qabatiya, claiming that the trio fired on them. A serious injury was caused to an Israeli soldier during a separate firefight with Palestinian gunmen near Tubas.