ISRAEL: In a surprise airstrike on Tuesday in Gaza, Israel killed ten civilians and three Islamic Jihad commanders, prompting threats of retaliation from the group and condemnation from Egypt, which has previously negotiated ceasefires in the enclave.
Signalling that it expected an impending flare-up, Israel ordered residents to gather around bomb shelters, closed highways in Israeli communities near Gaza, and stated that it was mobilising some military reservists. Images shared on social media show Iron Dome rocket interceptor batteries being moved to the front.
The scope of a potential escalation could depend on whether militants from Gaza’s ruling Hamas organisation participate, as they did in a conflict in 2021.
Israel Katz, a minister in the security cabinet, warned Hamas leaders that they would also be the target of assassination to dissuade them.
Over the past year, there has been an increase in grassroots violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Still, there has also been an increase in gunfire across the Gaza border, most recently when an Islamic Jihad leader died last week while on a hunger strike in Israeli detention.
Islamic Jihad identified Jihad Ghannam, Khalil Al-Bahtini, and Tareq Izzeldeen as the Tuesday killings’ commanding officers. On terrorist watchlists in the West is the organisation supported by Iran.
Medical authorities reported that ten civilians, including four children and five women, were also killed in the strikes that targeted residential areas in crowded Gaza, where 2.3 million Palestinians inhabit a land area of 365 km2 (140 sq miles).
Islamic Jihad promised to “match the size of the crime.”
“The Occupation (Israel) must expect a response at any moment and anywhere,” Dawoud Shehab, the group’s spokesperson, said.
The Israeli military stated that it was looking into claims of civilian deaths but did not have any immediate comments.
A military spokeswoman informed reporters, “We are aware of some collateral, and we will learn more as the day progresses.”
The military said that 40 jets were used in the so-called “pinpoint” strikes. A military spokesperson said, “It was a convergence of intelligence, timing, and weather.”
According to the spokesperson, ten of the group’s military installations and manufacturing facilities for weapons and infrastructure, including facilities for building rockets and producing concrete for tunnels, were also attacked.
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas, who divides his time between Turkey and Qatar, said, “Assassinating leaders will not bring the Occupation (Israel) security, but more resistance.”
According to Egypt, the strikes “contradicted the foundations of international law and international resolutions,” which has previously used its open channels to arrange ceasefires between Israeli and Palestinian terrorists.
Videos showed trucks of firefighters racing to a structure that had been hit as flames and billowing smoke lit up the night sky and a medic reassuring a small girl who appeared confused.
Another indication that Israel was prepared for a flare-up was when its foreign minister, Eli Cohen, announced he would leave India early after seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, the changes gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political respite. His religious-rightist coalition government’s far-right party, Jewish Power, announced that it was cancelling a boycott of parliamentary votes that it had called last week in protest of what it saw as Israel’s permissive Gaza policy.
Since January, more than 100 Palestinians, at least 19 Israelis, and foreigners have died in the conflict.
The Palestinian foreign ministry harshly condemned Israel’s strike and asserted that political negotiations were the only way to achieve security and stability. Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad advocates Israel’s destruction and rejects peaceful coexistence.
In the 1967 conflict, Israel conquered Gaza and the West Bank, territories the Palestinians desired for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. According to several ministers in the current Israeli cabinet who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, there is no such thing as the Palestinian people.
COGAT, a division of the Israeli army ministry that administers civilian activities with Palestinians in the occupied territories, stated that its two Gaza crossings were declared closed to people and products until further notice.
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