Fighter's death brings Gaza toll from latest Israeli assault to 49

Fighter's death brings Gaza toll from latest Israeli assault to 49
A fighter in the Gaza Strip has succumbed to wounds sustained during an Israeli attack over the weekend, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed to 49
2 min read
Anas Inshasi's relatives mourned his death [Getty]

Palestinian mourners held a funeral on Friday for a fighter who succumbed to wounds suffered during a three day Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip last weekend.

His death brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the assault to 49, including 17 children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The body of Anas Inshasi, 22, was wrapped in the black and white flag of the Army of Islam, a small, radical faction. Mourners said he was wounded by an Israeli airstrike while firing mortar shells toward Israel.

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Friday against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group after one of its leaders was detained by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank earlier that week.

Islamic Jihad began firing rockets at Israel hours after the initial wave of strikes. The Israeli attack ended with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire on Sunday.

In the three days, Israeli airstrikes killed two top Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza, and the group said it lost a total of 12 fired.

The Israeli military says the group fired some 1,100 rockets, around 200 of which fell short in Gaza. Most of the remainder were intercepted or fell in open areas.

Several Palestinian civilians were among those killed and wounded by Israeli airstrikes, including an 11-year-old girl who died of her wounds on Thursday. Two children are being treated in the intensive care unit of a Palestinian hospital in Jerusalem.

 No Israelis were killed or seriously wounded in the latest flare-up.

Israel and Hamas, which is larger and more powerful than Islamic Jihad, have fought four wars and countless smaller battles since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 following a conflict with rival group Fatah.

Hamas did not take part in the latest round of fighting.