A fireball erupts from a building in Gaza after one of Israel’s air strikes. Photo: AFP / Ashraf Amira.
The Israeli army said on Saturday that it expects its operations in the Gaza Strip to last “a week”, following new attacks on the organization. Islamic Jihadwhich in turn responded with a rocket launch, in the most serious escalation of violence in the Palestinian enclave since the war of May last year.
A military spokesman indicated that the army “prepares for a week-long operation “ and that “it is currently not conducting negotiations for a ceasefire”, after reporting that Egypt is trying to mediate to calm the situation.
Just before local noon, according to the AFP news agency, Gaza looked like a ghost town, with its empty streets and closed shops.
Meanwhile, missile alarms continued to sound in Israeli cities adjacent to the Palestinian enclave under the Israeli blockade. But so far, according to the army, the shooting from Gaza has caused no casualties or damage.
A paramedic tries to get people away from one of the sites where he hit one of the rockets fired by Israel. Photo: AFP / Mohammed Abed.
Instead, the Gaza Strip’s only power plant had to shut down due to lack of fuel, which it did “will aggravate the humanitarian situation”according to the power company.
Israel closed the passage of goods and people with the Palestinian enclave on Tuesday for fear of reprisals after arresting an Islamic Jihad leader. The closures have reduced the fuel deliveries needed to power the plant.
the Israeli army bombards Palestinian territory since Fridayand claims that its attacks are directed at the weapons production sites of Islamic Jihad, a group aligned with the ruling Islamist movement Hamas but which often acts independently.
The second of the organization, Tayseer al Jabari “Abu Mahmud”, was killed in these attacks. In retaliation, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad launched more than 100 rockets towards Israel and stated that it was an “initial response”.
Also, 15 fighters from that organization diedaccording to the Israeli army.
Several people run during an Israeli air raid on Gaza. Photo: AFP / Anas Baba.
The Gaza authorities have indicated, for their part, that the attacks They have already left 12 dead, including a 5-year-old girl, and 80 injured. According to Mohamed Abu Salameh, director of the main hospital in Gaza, doctors are facing a “severe shortage of medical supplies”.
In recent hours, Israeli forces have also arrested 19 members of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Israeli offensive comes after Monday’s arrest in that area of a leader of the group, Basem Saadi.
Israel launched the air strikes as a “preventative” operation against Islamic Jihad. Photo: AFP / Mohammed Abed.
Islamic Jihad vows to fight relentlessly
The match it is the worst between Israel and armed organizations in Gaza since the 11-day war in May 2021which resulted in 260 Palestinian deaths – including fighters – and 14 in Israel, including one soldier.
Egypt, historical mediator between Israel and armed groups in Gaza, tries to intervene in the conflict and could receive a delegation from Islamic Jihad today.
On Friday, as the first response to the death of Commander Taysir al Jabari, the Al Qods Brigade – the military branch of Islamic Jihad – fired “over 100 rockets” on Tel Aviv, the cities of central Israel and the areas near Gaza.
A group of Palestinians inspects the remains of a house hit by Israeli bombs in southern Gaza. Photo: EFE / Mohammed Saber.
Islamic Jihad has ruled out the possibility of a ceasefire, said it was “focused on the ground” and accused Israel of “starting a war”.
“The Zionist enemy has initiated this aggression and must prepare to fight relentlessly,” the organization’s secretary general told Lebanese television Al-Mayadeen from Tehran.
Since 2007, Israel has imposed a strict blockade of the Gaza Strip, an enclave of 362 km2 in which 2.3 million inhabitants live, with high levels of unemployment and poverty.
Source: Clarin
