Despite rumors of a possible ceasefire, rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel and Israeli air force attacks on Islamic Jihad targets in the Palestinian enclave continue. According to the latest data, 13 rockets and several mortar shells were fired from Gaza this morning, causing limited material damage and causing no casualties. On the other hand, attacks on jihadi positions and rocket launch sites in the Gaza Strip continued throughout the morning.
So far, 547 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, while 166 Islamic Jihad targets have been hit by the Israeli Air Force in the Strip. The military spokesman announced that of the rockets fired, 124 (1 out of 5) hit the Gaza Strip. 394 – the spokesman continued – entered Israeli territory and of those 175 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.
Meanwhile, Israel eliminates more Palestinian Islamic Jihad military leaders. The latest incident occurred when the Jewish state army shot dead Ahmed Abu Daka, the deputy commander of the Jihad missile unit. Daka was hit in a building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, where there are also four other wounded. Daka is the fifth member of the jihad’s military wing to be killed since hostilities began.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted by the media as ordering the army to prepare “a series of further operations” in Gaza and to be prepared for further launches from Gaza. According to Israeli public broadcaster, a delegation from Egypt is arriving to discuss a possible ceasefire, the terms of which have yet to be determined.
And on this subject, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Jordan and Egypt have called for an end to the violence between Israel and militants in Gaza, who have been engaged in heavy gun battles for the past three days. “The bloodbath must stop now,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock after talks with her counterparts. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also said that “negative developments must be stopped and peace must be restored”.
But Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry admitted it Cairo’s mediation efforts have so far failed for a ceasefire in Gaza. “Despite our intensive efforts, these have not produced the desired results,” Shoukry said, Egyptian newspaper Youm 7’s website reported. “I confirm that despite the recent developments in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian efforts will continue with the conflicting parties at odds with the international community in order to restore calm and with the aim of resuming the political process,” the head of Egyptian diplomacy said again .
Meanwhile, the Israeli military spokesman reported that yesterday four Palestinian civilians, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed by defective rockets fired at Israel by Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip and instead crashed in the Gaza Strip. According to the spokesman, more than a hundred rockets hit the Gaza Strip yesterday. In Gaza, 25 Palestinians have been killed and 80 injured in two days of fighting.
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