"The war has begun"; Sirens in the cities; shelters opened; 100 rockets fired; VIDEO

"The war has begun"; Sirens in the cities; shelters opened; 100 rockets fired; VIDEO

As a reminder, the Israeli army attacked targets in Gaza today, it was announced in a statement that was reported by the media today, according to CNN.

The statement said the targets included members of Islamic Jihad, the smaller of the two main militant groups in Gaza.

A CNN producer in Gaza saw medics carrying two bodies out of a building called the Palestine Tower, which was hit in one of the attacks. The Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza confirmed that the bodies of two killed people had been delivered, and that there were about 20 wounded.

The announcement of the Islamic Jihad states the following: "The enemy has started a war, targeting our people, and we have a duty to defend us and our people, and not to allow the enemy to get away with these actions."

A "special situation" has been declared in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army announced.

The commander was killed

One of the commanders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement was killed in Israeli strikes, an official of this militant group announced today.

At the same time, Palestinian officials announced that at least eight people, including the commander of the militants, were killed in the Israeli attacks, and 40 were wounded, AP reported.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced that it had targeted targets in Gaza, after several days of tension caused by the arrest of the leader of the Palestinian militants, Bassam al-Saadi, reports Reuters.

According to the spokesman of the Israeli army, based on their data, 15 people were killed in the strikes. Palestinian militant leader Saadi was arrested earlier this week by Israeli forces during an attack on the West Bank city of Jenin.

After that arrest, Israel closed all crossings into Gaza as well as some nearby roads fearing retaliation from Palestinian militants based in Gaza.

Sirens sounded in Israeli cities, Tel Aviv opens shelters

The municipality of Tel Aviv announced that it is opening public shelters according to the instructions of the military command. The rockets that were launched from Gaza this evening have not yet been directed at Tel Aviv, the "Times of Israel" daily reported.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for tonight's rocket fire into southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad said more than 100 rockets were fired, The Times of Israel reports.

Their spokesman said that the organization claimed responsibility for tonight's rocket fire on towns in southern and central Israel and warned that it was "just the beginning of the response" to the killing of the group's commander, Tayser al-Jabari.

Today, the Israeli government issued a warning about possible Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli cities.

During the day, on this occasion, sirens sounded in the central and southern regions of the country, reports Reuters.