Israel launched air strikes on Gaza Friday in response to militant rocket fireplace from the Palestinian enclave, as tensions rose following the deadliest military raid on the occupied West Bank in years.
Israel stated it had carried out a minimum of two rounds of strikes focusing on Hamas Islamists, following waves of rocket launches in the direction of southern Israel.
There have been no reported accidents on both facet and many of the Gaza rockets have been intercepted by Israel’s air defence system.
No Palestinian group in Gaza has claimed accountability for the rockets, however each Hamas and Islamic Jihad had vowed to reply to Thursday’s Israeli raid within the West Bank, which killed 9 individuals.
Another Palestinian was killed Thursday by Israeli fireplace in separate West Bank unrest close to Ramallah.
The bloodiest day within the West Bank in years erupted throughout a raid on the crowded refugee camp within the northern metropolis of Jenin, the place gunshots rang by way of the streets and smoke billowed from burning barricades.
The army stated Israeli forces got here below fireplace throughout a “counterterrorism operation to apprehend an Islamic Jihad terror squad” and shot a number of enemy combatants.
Since its information started in 2005, the United Nations has by no means logged such a excessive demise toll in a single operation within the West Bank.
The violence prompted the Palestinian Authority to announce it was slicing safety coordination with Israel, a transfer criticised by the United States.
Among these confirmed useless in Jenin was Majeda Obeid, 61, who lived some metres from the home focused by the Israeli forces.
Her daughter, Kefiyat Obeid, informed AFP her mom was shot as she peered out her window on the clashes.
“After she finished her prayers, she stopped for a moment to look and, as she stood up, she was hit in the neck by a bullet and she fell against the wall and then to the floor,” the 26-year-old informed AFP, as bloodstains soaked into the rug of their dwelling.
‘State of panic’
The army stated the incursion focused Islamic Jihad militants who have been allegedly behind assaults on Israeli troopers and civilians and, in response to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have been planning “to conduct a terror attack in Israel”.
Three Palestinians have been shot in a firefight, whereas Israeli forces shot an additional two “fleeing the scene”, a military assertion stated. Israeli forces additionally shot a sixth suspect inside a constructing, and different Palestinians have been hit after firing on troops, the military stated.
There have been no casualties among the many Israeli forces, the army stated.
Wisam Bakr, director of the Jenin Government Hospital, stated there was a “state of panic” within the paediatric ward, with some youngsters affected by tear fuel inhalation.
The Israeli army informed AFP “the activity was not far away from the hospital, and it is possible some tear gas entered through an open window”.
Jenin resident Umm Youssef Al-Sawalmi stated houses have been hit in the course of the raid. “Windows, doors, walls and even the refrigerator, everything was damaged by the bullets,” she informed AFP.
Islamic Jihad spokesman Tariq Salmi vowed that “the resistance is everywhere and ready and willing for the next confrontation”.
The newest deaths convey the variety of Palestinians killed within the West Bank to date this yr to 30, together with fighters and civilians, most of whom have been shot by Israeli forces.
Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chief of Hamas, which guidelines Gaza, vowed that Israel “will pay the price for the Jenin massacre”.
‘Bloody bloodbath’
Washington earlier Thursday introduced US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would journey subsequent week to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the place he’ll push for an “end to the cycle of violence”.
US regional allies Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia all strongly condemned the lethal Israeli incursion.
The mounting toll follows the deadliest yr within the Palestinian territory recorded by the UN.
At least 26 Israelis and 200 Palestinians have been killed throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2022, the bulk within the West Bank, in response to an AFP tally from official sources.
UN peace envoy Tor Wennesland stated he was “deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence in the occupied West Bank”.
Thousands flocked to funerals in Jenin, because the Palestinian presidency introduced three days of mourning. It charged that Thursday’s raid was taking place “under international silence”. —Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
