The Israeli occupation army announced the start of a military operation in the Gaza Strip, titled "Defensive Arrow". In a joint operation by the army and the Shin Bet (Shabak), three leaders of the Islamic Jihad Movement were assassinated, by Israeli warplanes bombing residential apartments in the Strip. The martyrs identities were revealed as follows: Tariq Ezz El-Din, Khalil Al-Bahtini, and Jihad Ghannam.

The Israeli media reported that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, approved the military operation during his recent visit to the Shin Bet headquarters last week, and confirmed the plans on Friday afternoon.

In a related context, the Israeli occupation army also announced, at Al-Fajr time today, the closure of Gaza's crossings until further notice.