In two days of Israeli air strikes, 16 Palestinians including three top terrorist commanders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were killed.

Rockets from Gaza set off air-raid sirens throughout southern Israel where residents had been bracing for an attack since Israel carried out its first airstrikes early Tueday. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas and PIJ frequently attack and harass Israel with rockets. Gaza is under control of Hamas.?

Palestinian attacks follow Israeli strikes

In their first response to Israeli airstrikes that have killed a total of 16 Palestinians, including three terrorist commanders and at least 10 civilians, Palestinian terrorists in on Wednesday fired several barrages of rocket fire into southern Israel.

The rocket fire set off air-raid sirens throughout southern Israel, where residents had been bracing for an attack since Israel carried out its first airstrikes early Tueday. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Visuals of Palestinian rockets approaching Israel and being intercepted by Israeli air defence surfaced on the internet.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli aircraft struck targets in Gaza a second straight day on Wednesday, killing at least one Palestinian and pushing the region closer toward a new round of heavy fighting.

Tuesday's strikes killed three senior PIJ terrorists and at least 10 civilians — most of them women and children. Palestinian terrorists have pledged to retaliate while Israel says it is prepared for a further escalation of hostilities.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it was bombing Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant infrastructure in the coastal enclave. The army said one airstrike targeted militants travelling to a rocket launcher site in the southern Gaza Strip.?

Both PIJ and Hamas are committed to the establishment of a singular Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel.

"Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Palestinian Islamist terrorist group sponsored by Iran and Syria...PIJ is dedicated to eradicating Israel and establishing an autonomous Islamic Palestinian state in the lands currently comprising Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. PIJ believes that the land of Palestine is consecrated for Islam, that Israel usurped Palestine, and, therefore, that Israel is an affront to God and Islam and that Palestine’s re-conquest is a holy task," says think-tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP).

CEP notes that Hamas also has a similar committed. Additionally, Hamas participates in the political processes.

"Hamas uses its provision of social services to build support amongst grassroots Palestinians, helping it to win the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. However, the group’s engagement in politics and welfare has not tempered its commitment to terrorism. Hamas’s preferred methods include suicide bombings, rocket and mortar attacks, shootings, and kidnappings," notes CEP.

It further says, "The group’s ideology blends Islamism and Palestinian nationalism and seeks the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River."

Israeli told to stay near shelters

The Israeli military had instructed residents of southern Israel to remain near bomb shelters, and schools were still closed for a second day as a precaution against rocket attacks.

Israel says the airstrikes are a response to a barrage of rocket fire launched last week by Islamic Jihad in response to the death of one of its members from a hunger strike while in Israeli custody.

Israel says it is trying to avoid conflict with Hamas, the more powerful militant group that rules Gaza, and confine the fighting to Islamic Jihad.?

But Hamas has expressed solidarity with its smaller counterpart, and the two groups often coordinate with one another.?

Risk of broader conflict

If the violence continues, the risk of a full-blown war could increase. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the Islamic group, which opposes Israel's existence, took control of Gaza in 2007.

Last month, Israel and the broader region was on the edge as Israel faced a string of Palestinian terrorist attacks and rocket barrages from Gaza and Lebanon. Close to three dozen rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon and dozens were fired from Gaza too. Israeli media at the time reported that the rocket barrage from Lebanon was the largest since 2006 Israel-Lebanon War.?

Earlier on Wednesday, the military said that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at troops in the Palestinian town of Qabatiya in the northern West Bank during an army raid. Troops returned fire, killing the two men, and confiscated their firearms, it said.?

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the slain men as Ahmed Assaf, 19, and Rani Qatanat, 24. The Islamic Jihad militant group later claimed the two men as its members.?

Israel has been conducting near-daily military raids in the occupied West Bank for over a year to detain suspected Palestinian militants, including many from Islamic Jihad. The northern West Bank city of Jenin and its environs have been the frequent target of such raids as it has emerged as a hub of Palestinian militant activity.

Israel says the raids in the West Bank are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks.

At least 107 Palestinians, around half of them militants, have been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2023, according to an Associated Press tally. At least 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis.

(With AP inputs)