28 Palestinians killed in clashes in Gaza

Three days of gunfire between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza left 28 people dead in the Palestinian territories and one in Israel, and despite mediation efforts, the latest escalation showed no sign of abating on Thursday.

This is Violent outburstThe standoff between Gaza and Israel, the largest since August 2022, began on Tuesday with Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territories. Islamic Jihad, an organization considered “terrorist” by Israel, the European Union and the United States. One person was killed and several others injured Thursday in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, when a rocket hit a residential building, police and emergency services said.

Children are among the victims

Gaza, controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, has reported 28 deaths and more than 80 injuries, including children, since Tuesday, the health ministry said. Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) fighters were also killed, the groups said.

AFP journalists witnessed Israeli attacks on Gaza and rocket attacks on Israeli soil during the day. In areas bordering the Gaza Strip, warning sirens sound at regular intervals.

According to the latest figures released by the military, 547 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israeli soil since Wednesday’s firing, and 175 have been intercepted by the anti-aircraft defense system. On Thursday, the Israeli military said it had hit 166 targets across the Gaza Strip, including rocket launchers belonging to the armed group, which removed two of its commanders.

“Very Dangerous”

At Al-Shifa Hospital, 32-year-old Suhail Al-Masri visited his son, who was injured in the strike. “I wouldn’t have left the house otherwise because the situation was so dangerous,” he told AFP. “Israel is dropping bombs everywhere and the anti-rocket attack has not stopped.” “Israeli massacres will not go unpunished and all options for resistance are on the table,” Islamic Jihad said, while Hamas recalled Thursday that the “resistance (is) united.”

Iran, which supports Islamic Jihad, condemned the “atrocities of the Zionists” and pledged “defeat” to the “occupational regime,” according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Khanani. “This morning we eliminated the leader of the Islamic Jihad rocket attacks in Gaza, and an hour ago we eliminated his deputy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of Palestinian Authority commanders Ali Khali and Ahmed Abu Dakka.

“I have already said: Whoever attacks us is risking his life, even those who replace him,” he said, heading to an army base. The Gaza Strip, a narrow strip of land plagued by poverty and unemployment where 2.3 million Palestinians live under Israeli siege, has been the scene of several wars with Israel since 2008.

Mediation efforts

Egypt, the traditional mediator between the belligerents, is working to broker a ceasefire. Mohammed al-Hindi, head of Islamic Jihad’s political department, arrived in Cairo on Thursday, a source in the Palestinian Authority told AFP on condition of anonymity.

An Egyptian delegation is due to travel to Tel Aviv later in the evening to negotiate a ceasefire, an Egyptian source told AFP. US Ambassador to Israel Tom Knights said in a post on Twitter that he was “concerned” about the Palestinian flare-up and was “working towards a swift de-escalation”.

“It’s not the first time my house has been hit (by rockets), but I’m not scared,” Miriam Keren, 78, whose shed was completely destroyed and her car damaged, told AFP in Ashkelon, southern Israel.

Previous conflicts

In August 2022, three days of clashes between Israel and Islamic Jihad killed 49 Palestinians, including at least 19 children, according to the UN. More than a thousand rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza, injuring three.

In the occupied West Bank, 25 Islamic Jihad members were arrested in recent days, the military said. Two Palestinians died of gunshot wounds sustained by Israeli forces during operations in the north.

(AFP)