Israel launched fresh airstrikes against Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza yesterday in response to rocket fire, despite a ceasefire.
The ceasefire began on Thursday morning following two days of fighting after Israel’s targeted killing of an Islamic Jihad commander.
The Israeli military said it carried out new strikes overnight against the Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip.
Photo: AFP
They came after at least seven rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza, two of which were intercepted by air defenses.
The Israeli military said it “views the violation of the ceasefire and rockets directed at Israel with great severity.”
It said it was prepared to “continue operating as necessary against all attempts to harm Israel civilians.”
Two wounded Palestinians were being treated at a hospital in the southern part of the territory, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The ceasefire was brokered by Egyptian and UN officials, the usual mediators between Israel and Gaza.
During the day on Thursday, normal life had resumed quietly in Israeli regions near the Gaza border, while in the blockaded enclave, residents had also embraced the return of relative calm.
“We hope for peace, we don’t want war,” said Mahmoud Jarda, a Gaza inhabitant.
To keep a lid on tensions, Palestinians canceled weekly protests along the Israeli-Gaza border that have often led to violence since March last year.
At least 311 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza or the border area since then, most of them during demonstrations and associated clashes.
The escalation began early Tuesday with Israel’s targeted killing of a top Islamic Jihad commander, Baha Abu al-Ata, whom it accused of being behind rocket fire and other attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abu al-Ata “was killed alongside dozens of terrorists” after the strike on his home, adding: “Our enemies got the message: We can reach anyone, even in their bed.”
That strike triggered almost immediate retaliatory rocket fire from Islamic Jihad at Israel, setting off air raid sirens and sending Israelis rushing to bomb shelters in the country’s southern and central regions.
Israel’s military said that about 450 rockets had been fired at its territory since Tuesday morning and air defenses had intercepted dozens of them in fireballs high in the sky.
No Israelis were killed, although one rocket narrowly missed speeding cars on a busy highway.
Israeli medics said that they had treated 63 people as of Wednesday night for mild injuries and stress.
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