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(CNN) --
The Israeli army launched attacks on Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza on Friday and killed a senior leader of the militant group, according to statements by militant leaders in the Strip.
An Islamic Jihad statement said Tayseer Al Jabari, 40, had been killed in the Israeli strike, along with three others.
Al Jabari was a commander of the Quds Brigade, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the group said, and a member of its Military Council.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, among the four people killed was a five-year-old girl.
It was reported that 23 people were injured.
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A CNN producer in Gaza watched as medics removed two bodies from a building called the Palestinian Tower that had been hit by one of the strikes.
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Islamic Jihad says a response is "inevitable".
"All options are open, by all means the Palestinian resistance has, whether in Gaza or outside. The battlefield is open, and the Iron Dome will not help protect the Zionists from the resistance's response. The resistance will respond with full force. We will not say how, but it is inevitable," Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shehab told Al Jazeera.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, condemned the Israeli action.
"The Israeli enemy, who started the escalation against Gaza and committed a new crime, must pay the price and bear full responsibility for it," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
A "special situation" has been declared in areas near Gaza, in anticipation of possible rocket fire or other retaliatory attacks, according to the Israeli military.
The operation against Islamic Jihad is called "Dawn", according to the army.
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