US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Richard Nides
US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Richard NidesOlivier Fitoussi/Flash90

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides on Friday commented on Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn against the Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

“The United States firmly believes that Israel has a right to protect itself. We are engaging with different parties and urge all sides for calm,” he tweeted.

Israel launched the operation on Friday, when the IDF eliminated senior Islamic Jihad commander Tayseer al-Jabari.

15 other terrorists were killed, according to the IDF.

Later, an IDF aircraft attacked and destroyed a rocket launching site of the Islamic Jihad in Khan Yunis.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that “a short time ago, a failed launch attempt was detected from the site.”

“The IDF continues to attack Islamic Jihad terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” it added.

In a separate statement, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that, as part of “Operation Breaking Dawn”, the IDF has begun an extensive recruitment of reservists.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)