Israel bombed the Gaza Strip for a second day in what it described as a “preemptive operation” against a Palestinian militant group, in the worst escalation of violence since last year’s 11-day war.
Israeli warplanes struck several sites in the blockaded territory on Friday, part of a surprise operation called “Dawn” that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said foiled suspected planned rocket attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Although it sometimes operates independently, Islamic Jihad is affiliated with Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the strip.
As the exchange of fire continued and Israel appeared to expand the operation on Saturday morning, health authorities in the Palestinian coastal enclave said 12 people had been killed by Israeli airstrikes, including Islamic Jihad commander Taysir Jabari and civilians, including a five-year-old girl and a 22- year art student. About 80 more people were injured.
Islamic Jihad called the initial Israeli bombardment a “declaration of war”, firing a barrage of at least 100 rockets into southern Israel on Friday night. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage, with many missiles intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, but 13 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The military action has people in Gaza fearing a new round of war, which would be the fourth major conflict in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007. Israel and Egypt closed the strip’s borders a year later, leaving the 2 million residents of the area struggling with unemployment, crumbling medical infrastructure and little electricity and clean water.
Hamas announced its support for Islamic Jihad and said it would also respond to the strikes. “The resistance, with all its weapons and military factions, is united in this campaign and will have the last word,” the group said in a statement.
Egypt, a historical mediator between Israel and armed groups in Gaza, said it had been informed by Israel that Breaking Dawn would be a smaller-scale attack, but that no talks had yet begun.
This weekend’s violence comes after days of tension sparked by the arrest of Bassem al-Saadi, the top commander of Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces have been conducting almost nightly raids in the West Bank since mid-March in response to a wave of Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli citizens.
While Islamic Jihad did not fire rockets after Saadi’s arrest, Israel insisted this week that the group was seeking revenge, closing the Erez crossing used by Palestinians in Gaza to enter Israel and closing roads and restricting civilian movement in southern Israel. as a precaution.
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Israeli tanks and armor were lined up along the border on Friday after the military said on Thursday it was beefing up troops.
“Israel is not interested in a wider conflict in Gaza, but it will not run away from one either,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a televised address on Friday.
The Gaza Strip has remained relatively quiet since the war last May, which killed 256 people in Gaza and 14 in Israel.
A month later, Israel elected a coalition government that for the first time included members of an independent Arab-Israeli party opposed to escalation with the Palestinians. He also increased the number of work permits for Palestinians in Gaza to enter Israel in a bid to ease crushing poverty in the Strip.
The short-lived coalition collapsed in June. Lapid, the interim prime minister, is gearing up for a Nov. 1 election in which he faces pressure from Israel’s right wing to appear tough on terrorism.
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