JERUSALEM, May 9 (Portal) – Israel killed three Islamic Jihad commanders and 10 civilians in surprise airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, threatening reprisals from the faction and reprimands from Egypt, which has a history of intervening in ceasefires in the enclave mediated.
In a sign it expected an impending flare-up, Israel closed roads in Israeli towns near Gaza, instructed residents there to stay near bomb shelters and said it was calling on some military reservists. Images on social media showed Iron Dome missile interceptor batteries being transported to the front lines.
The extent of an escalation could depend on whether ruling Hamas militants in Gaza get involved, as they did in a 2021 war.
To deter them, Israel Security Cabinet Minister Israel Katz told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM that Hamas leaders could also be targets for assassination.
While the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem have seen a spread of grassroots violence over the past year, gunfire has also intensified across the border with Gaza, most recently after the death of an Islamic Jihad leader on hunger strike in Israeli custody last week.
Islamic Jihad identified the commanders killed Tuesday as Jihad Ghannam, Khalil Al-Bahtini and Tareq Izzeldeen. The Iran-sponsored group is on terrorist watch lists in the West.
Medical officials said 10 civilians, including four children and five women, were also killed in the strikes, which hit residential areas in the crowded Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million Palestinians live in 365 square kilometers (140 sq mi).
Islamic Jihad vowed to “reach the scale of the crime”.
“The occupation (Israel) must expect a reaction anytime, anywhere,” said group spokesman Dawoud Shehab.
The Israeli military said it is reviewing reports of civilian deaths but has no immediate comment.
“We are aware of some certainties and will learn more later today,” a military spokesman told reporters.
The military said 40 jets took part in so-called “pinpoint” attacks. “It was a convergence of information, timing and weather,” a military spokesman said.
[1/6] A fire burns in a building after the Israeli military struck Islamic Jihad targets, a statement said in Gaza on May 9, 2023. Portal/Mohammed Salem
Ten weapons and infrastructure manufacturing plants, including missile production workshops and a site for manufacturing concrete for tunnels, as well as the group’s military facilities were also hit, the spokesman said.
“MORE RESISTANCE”
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who splits his time between Turkey and Qatar, said in a statement: “Assassinating leaders will not bring security to the occupation (Israel), but more resistance.”
Egypt, which in the past has used its open channels with Israel and Palestinian militants to broker ceasefires, said the strikes “contradict the fundamentals of international law and international resolutions.”
Videos showed plumes of smoke and flames lighting up the night sky as trucks carrying firefighters sped toward a hit building while a paramedic calmed a teenage girl who appeared confused.
“Your family is safe, don’t worry,” he said.
During the bombing, Palestinians took to social media to mourn a well-known dentist who was killed at home with his wife, describing him as a loyal friend and a humble man.
Another sign that Israel was preparing for a flare-up came when its Secretary of State Eli Cohen said he was returning early from a visit to India after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But the developments offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political respite. Jewish Power, a far-right party in its religious-right coalition government, said it was ending a boycott of the parliamentary vote it launched last week in protest at what it saw as lax Israeli policies on Gaza.
More than 100 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in the unrest since January.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel’s attack, saying a negotiated political settlement was the only way to achieve security and stability. Islamic Jihad, like Hamas, rejects coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction.
Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank in a 1967 war, areas the Palestinians want for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Some ministers in the current Israeli government have spoken out against Palestinian statehood, saying that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people.
COGAT, a unit of Israel’s Defense Ministry that coordinates civil affairs with Palestinians in the occupied territories, said its two border crossings with Gaza were closed to people and goods until further notice.
Reporting by Henriette Chacar and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Tom Hogue
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Nidal Al-Mughrabi