Israeli raids on Gaza Strip kill 26 Palestinians including 3 children since Tuesday

At least 26 Palestinians have been martyred by the Israeli army in two days of escalation in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ministry added that almost 100 others, including 30 children and 13 women, were injured by Israeli raids on the blockaded strip.

On Wednesday morning, the Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, said that one of its field commanders had been killed in an Israeli raid.

Earlier, the Israeli army said its air force attacked an Islamic Jihad squad trying to fire rockets at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli official ambulance service, known as the Red Star of David, said 44 Israelis were lightly injured due to the rockets launched from Gaza towards the Israeli southern areas since Tuesday.

In the meantime, red sirens were heard in the southern Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Sderot.

The situation escalated in Gaza early Tuesday after an Israeli airstrike killed Bahaa Abu al-Atta, the commander of resistance group Islamic Jihad, as well as his wife Asmaa Abu al-Atta.

Israeli warplanes also launched an airstrike targeting Islamic Jihad member Akram al-Ajouri in Syria's capital Damascus.

Two people, including al-Ajouri's son, were killed and 10 injured, but the Islamic Jihad leader emerged unhurt.