Israel, state of alert close to the Gaza Strip

(ANSA) - TEL AVIV, MAY 09 - A state of alert has been proclaimed by Israel in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, in fear of rocket attacks by Islamic Jihad following the killing of three of its military leaders. Israeli roads near the Strip were closed and rail traffic was disrupted between Ashkelon and Sderot. Residents of the area have been ordered to stay close to shelters and sheltered rooms.
Military radio reported that hundreds of reservists were recalled.
The toll of last night's Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 12, including three Islamic Jihad leaders but also some children, according to local authorities. There are also 20 injuries. The Israeli army, for its part, announced that it had carried out targeted operations against three commanders of the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement that Israel considers "terrorist". Islamic Jihad confirmed in a statement the death of three officials it identified as Jihad Ghannam, secretary of the Military Council of the Al-Quds Brigades, Khalil Al-Bahtini, a member of the same council and commander of the Northern Gaza Strip Brigades, and Tareq Ezzedine, "one of the leaders of the military action" of the movement in the occupied West Bank, which he coordinated from the Strip. (ANSA).