A senior Air Force Officer told reporters that the IDF “had not carried out a targeted assassination for a long time” and that the a number of aircraft participated in the strike, which occurred in the heart of Gaza City.

“We are prepared to continue operating with the message that Hamas and its men are vulnerable,” the officer said, adding that this is in an attempt to “renew deterrence” against Hamas.

“We are acting against Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but for us, Hamas is the sovereign and its role is to stop PIJ,” he said, explaining that under this directive, the IDF has been striking weapon warehouses, terror infrastructures, terrorist cells, tunnels and more.

“We are prepared for the possibility of escalation,” he continued, warning that “we have not used everything yet, there's a lot more we can do.”

“There have been are hundreds of IAF sorties over the Gaza Strip... We are working at a high rate and trying to be precise, just like the directives of the political echelon.“

According to him, of the approximately 600 rockets fired towards Israel, 400 were fired towards open areas and there is a high success rate (86%) by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

“Every strike is unfortunate and we are working to the maximum to prevent these,” he said, referring to the rockets that struck urban areas.