Gaza City commander killed in Israeli airstrike, confirms Hamas

Reuters photo

Gaza City: Militant group Hamas confirms that its Gaza City commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike, the highest-ranking militant killed since the 2014 war in the Palestinian territory.

Earlier, Israel's internal security agency said that a series of airstrikes had killed Bassem Issa and several other senior Hamas militants. The army released a statement on Wednesday, saying that it carried out a 'complex and first-of-its-kind operation. Those targeted, it said, were a key part of the Hamas General Staff' and considered close to the head of the group's military wing.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will use 'an iron fist if needed' to stop widespread protests by Arab citizens that have resulted in injuries, arrests, and property damage.

Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel will stop the anarchy after deploying Border Police forces to calm unrest in recent days in the cities of Lod and Acre.

The mounting unrest comes after weeks of violence in Jerusalem and heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in recent days. The fighting is rooted in a long dispute over contested Jerusalem. After Hamas rained rockets inside Israel on Monday, the conflict suddenly erupted and increasingly resembles the 2014 Gaza war.

Netayahu says Israel will "stop the anarchy and restore governance to the cities of Israel, with an iron fist if needed, with all forces needed and all authorities required".