Israeli strikes kill 2 Gaza militants; death toll now at 12

Firefighters deploy after a factory hit by a rocket caught fire in Sderot, southern Israel , Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 12m 2019. Israel has killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza in a rare targeted killing that threatened to unleash a fierce round of cross-border violence with Palestinian militants. 

Firefighters deploy after a factory hit by a rocket caught fire in Sderot, southern Israel , Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 12m 2019. Israel has killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza in a rare targeted killing that threatened to unleash a fierce round of cross-border violence with Palestinian militants. 

 Gaza officials say new Israel airstrikes have killed two militants, raising the death toll to 12 since the latest escalation erupted.

The Islamic Jihad says two of its fighters were targeted Wednesday, as rocket fire into Israel resumed along with Israeli retaliation after a brief overnight lull. Nearly all the casualties were Islamic Jihad members.

The military says some 220 rockets have been fired since Tuesday, following an Israel strike that killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander.

It’s the heaviest fighting in months between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group that’s even more hard-line than Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

But Hamas has yet to join the fray, a possible sign the fighting could be brief. With Gaza’s economy in tatters, Hamas appears to have little desire for another round of fighting.