Three days of rocket and missile clashes erupted between the Israeli army and armed groups in the Gaza Strip, killing 29 Palestinians and one in Israel, and on Thursday night there was no sign of easing despite mediation efforts.
• Also read: Israel-Gaza: New conflagration, more than 20 Palestinians killed in two days
• Also read: Israel eliminates three Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza, 13 dead in total
That outbreak of violence, the largest between Gaza and Israel since August 2022, began on Tuesday with Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory targeting Islamic Jihad, an organization deemed “terrorist” by Israel, the European Union and the United States becomes.
The European Union called for “an immediate ceasefire ending Israeli military operations in Gaza and the launching of rockets against Israel, which is unacceptable”.
Washington called on all parties to “ensure civilian deaths are avoided.” […] violence is decreasing,” while the UN Secretary-General reiterated that he was “following with great concern the dangerous escalation in Gaza and Israel.”
One person was killed Thursday in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, by a rocket that hit an apartment building, police said. Rescue services have reported five people wounded by shrapnel in Israel since the first Palestinian fire on Wednesday.
In the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, the Ministry of Health has reported 29 dead, including children, and more than 80 injured since Tuesday. Among the dead are five military commanders of Islamic Jihad who were attacked by Israel, as well as fighters from that movement and from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another armed group.
“United Resistance”
AFP journalists saw numerous Israeli attacks on Gaza and rocket fire on Israeli soil throughout the day.
Since the beginning of the day, warning sirens have been sounding at regular intervals in towns bordering on the Gaza Strip
According to the latest figures from the Israeli army, since the shelling began on Wednesday, 620 rockets have been fired from Gaza onto Israeli soil and 179 have been intercepted by the anti-aircraft system.
The army claims that 25% of the rockets fired from Gaza hit that area, killing four people, including three minors. AFP could not get a response from Hamas and Islamic Jihad to these allegations.
The Israeli army said it had attacked 191 targets across the Gaza Strip, including Islamic Jihad rocket launch sites.
32-year-old Suhail al-Masri came to al-Shifa hospital to see her son who was injured in a strike.
“Otherwise I would not have left the house because the situation is very dangerous,” he told AFP. “Israel is bombing everywhere and the resistance’s rocket fire hasn’t stopped.”
“The Israeli attacks will not go unpunished and all options are on the table for the resistance,” Islamic Jihad said, while Hamas recalled on Thursday that “the resistance is united.”
Iran, which supports Islamic Jihad, condemned the “atrocities committed by the Zionists” and promised the “occupation regime” a “defeat,” according to State Department spokesman Nasser Kanani.
“90 seconds”
“This morning we eliminated the leader of Islamic Jihad’s rocket attacks in Gaza, and an hour ago we eliminated his deputy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, referring to Ali Ghali and Ahmed Abu Daqqa, the commanders of the Palestinian organization.
The Gaza Strip, a cramped area plagued by poverty and unemployment where 2.3 million Palestinians live under Israeli blockade, has been the scene of several wars with Israel since 2008.
Egypt, the traditional mediator between the belligerents, is trying to negotiate a truce, but with no significant breakthrough.
Mohammed al-Hindi, head of Islamic Jihad’s political branch, arrived in Cairo on Thursday, a source inside the Palestinian organization AFP said on condition of anonymity.
In Rehovot, 82-year-old Ran Lev said he was “on the 4th floor of the building hit by the rocket.”
“I heard the siren and realized I had 90 seconds to get to the emergency shelter,” he says. “The building has been hit before,” but “I got out.” […] and everything was fine.”
In August 2022, three-day clashes between Israel and Islamic Jihad killed 49 Palestinians, including at least 19 children, according to the United Nations. More than a thousand rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel, wounding three.