Article authors:
Reuters
Nidal Almgravi and Maayan Lubell
Gaza / Jerusalem — On Saturday after Israel attacks Gaza and Palestinians operate Israel against Islamic Jihad militants After a relatively calm year or more along the border that launched a rocket in the city of Israel.
On Friday, Israel killed one of the group's senior commanders in a daytime airstrike on a skyscraper in Gaza, and fired a rocket in response.
Israel said on Saturday that it had attacked Islamic Jihad militants preparing to launch rockets and militant posts. According to witnesses, the additional bombing targeted five homes and sent huge clouds of smoke and debris into the air as the explosion shook the city of Gaza.
Palestinian militants have launched at least 160 rockets across the border, sounded air raid sirens, and bombed the city of Modiin in central Israel between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. I sent people running to the shelter. ..
Islamic jihad said it had targeted Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main international gateway, but rockets were scarce near Modiin, about 20 km (12 miles) away, and civil aviation. The bureau said the airport was operating normally. Adjusted the flight route.
According to the Israeli ambulance service, most of the missiles were intercepted and no serious casualties were reported.
Efforts by Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar to end the battle were underway. Further escalation depends largely on whether Hamas, the Islamic extremist group that controls Gaza, chooses to participate in the fighting.
Israeli strikes killed 14 Palestinians, including at least four Islamic holy warriors and one child, and injured at least 110 Palestinian health The ministry said. The Islamic Jihad War did not provide accurate details about how many of its members were killed and did not signal an immediate ceasefire. "It's a time of resistance, not a ceasefire," group officials told Reuters.
Overnight, Israeli troops arrested 19 Islamic holy war militants in an Israeli-occupied west bank raid while targeting a group rocket-making site and launcher in Gaza. Stated.
UN Concerns
Approximately 2.3 million Palestinians are packed into the narrow coastal Gaza Strip, and Israel and Egypt severely restrict the movement of people and goods into and out of the excursion. , Imposing a blockade of the Navy. , Quote security concerns.
Israel stopped planned fuel transportation to Gaza shortly before it hit Gaza on Friday, destroying the only power plant on the territory and reducing electricity by 1. Reduced to about 8 hours per day and was warned by health authorities. Hospitals will be seriously affected within a few days.
The frontier has been largely quiet since May 2021, killing at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 people in Israel in an 11-day fierce battle between Israel and militants.
UN Special Envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, said he was deeply concerned about violence, and the Palestinian Authority, with Western support, blamed the Israeli attack.
The streets of Gaza were almost unmanned on Saturday afternoon. At the place where Islamic Jihad Commander-in-Chief Taisir al-Jabari was murdered, rubble, glass and furniture were scattered on the streets.
Neighbor Mariam Abu Ganima, 56, said the Israeli army did not warn before the attack as in the previous series of violence.
A military spokesperson said the military worked to avoid civilian casualties in a surprise attack using precision means to target specific floors of the building.
Israel has imposed special security measures in the southern region near Gaza, preparing to convene about 25,000 military personnel, according to Army Radio, and streets in towns near the border. Was empty.
Tensions increased this week after Israeli troops arrested the commander of the Islamic Jihad on the west bank of the Jordan River and were threatened with retaliation by the group.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the strike on Friday blocked an immediate concrete attack by Iran-backed Islamic jihad, which the West had designated as a terrorist organization.
Some Israeli political analysts said the military operation provided Rapid with an opportunity to strengthen his security qualifications prior to the November 1 election. (Written by Maayan Lubell, edited by Robert Birsel and Jason Neely)
