Israel and Gaza trade fire in ceasefire talks
The Israeli army and Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group in Gaza, exchanged fire on Thursday amid rising tensions in the region as Israel stepped up its campaign of targeted killings of Islamic Jihad commanders, killing two more to reduce the toll. to five in three days.
As an effort by Egypt and other regional powers to persuade the two sides to agree to a ceasefire was underway Thursday, Islamic Jihad fired rockets and mortar shells at Israel, and Israeli troops on what she believed to be military targets related to the group. in Gaza.
An Islamic Jihad commander was killed Thursday afternoon in an Israeli rocket attack on his home in Gaza, an attack that followed the overnight targeted killing of a militant commander, the Israeli military said.
Cross-border exchanges began less intensely than on Wednesday, when Islamic Jihad fired more than 500 rockets and mortar shells aimed at Israel, according to the Israeli military, as Israel carried out airstrikes against what the military described as 150 targets linked to the militant group in Gaza.
The rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza on Thursday initially had a shorter range and mainly targeted areas in Israel close to the border with Gaza.
But towards evening, Islamic Jihad fired extended-range rockets in apparent retaliation for Israel’s latest targeted killings, and one rocket hit a building in Rehovot, a town in central Israel. The Israeli Ambulance Service said five people were injured in that attack and one was in critical condition.
The Israeli army said it had carried out two targeted killings on Thursday. The first, shortly before 2 a.m. on Thursday, killed Ali Ghali, a member of the Islamic Jihad military council and the Gaza commander of the group’s rocket-launching force. The Israeli army described the second Islamic Jihad commander killed Thursday afternoon as Mr Ghali’s deputy.
Mr Ghali was killed along with two other men in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis. Both the Israeli army and Islamic Jihad have confirmed Mr Ghali’s death. Islamic Jihad identified the two other fatalities as Mr Ghali’s brother and cousin. The Israeli military also described them as agents of Islamic Jihad.
Footage from the scene showed that the Israeli attack destroyed the apartment in which the three men were located on the top floor of a residential building.
“The enemy continues its crimes against those who are safe in their homes, and it will pay the price,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement Thursday, referring to Israel’s actions, adding: “The policy of assassination by bombing residential buildings will not give victory to the enemy, and the coming attacks will reveal his weakness and impotence.”
Israeli officials said the man killed Thursday afternoon was Ahmed Abu Daqqa, another senior member of the Islamic Jihad missile launch force, who they believe was responsible for the projectiles fired at Israel in recent days. The Islamic Jihad military wing confirmed the death of Mr. Abu Daqqa, who was also killed in Khan Yunis.
The latest round of fighting, Israel’s third confrontation with Islamic Jihad in Gaza in 10 months, began with a attack by Israel on Tuesday which killed three of the militant group’s top commanders, along with 10 civilians, four of them children, according to Palestinian officials.
A total of 26 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed since the start of hostilities on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The ministry said 84 Palestinians were also injured.
The Israeli army said about a quarter of the rockets fired by Islamic Jihad on Wednesday had failed and fell on Palestinian territory. Israeli officials said four of the Palestinian fatalities on Wednesday, including a 10-year-old child, were killed by two of the failed rockets.
The wounded in Rehovot were the first casualties of the rocket and mortar attacks on the Israeli side in this round of combat. Millions of people in areas within range of the rocket fire have been instructed to stay close to safe rooms and shelters. Israel’s air defense systems intercepted most of the other missiles headed for population centers, though a few slipped through and damaged several homes.
Reporting contributed by Iyad Abuheweila from Gaza City, Myra Noveck And Hiba Yazbek from Jerusalem, and Gabby Sobelman from Rehovot, Israel.