Israel and Palestine trade rocket fire as region teeters on brink

Israeli jets bombed the Gaza Strip on Saturday, hours after a spate of airstrikes killed a senior Palestinian militant and at least 10 others.

A five-year-old girl also died when the two-storey house of a high-ranking commander of the Islamic Jihad group was leveled by two bombs shortly before noon on Friday.

Radicals in Gaza responded by firing at least 160 rockets at Tel Aviv and other cities.

It is the worst spasm of cross-border violence since an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year.

But the violence remains largely contained, with any escalation largely dependent on whether Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, decides to join the fighting.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said a five-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman were among those killed in the Gaza Strip, without distinguishing between civilian and militant casualties.

The Israeli military said around 15 militants were killed, according to initial estimates. Dozens were wounded.

Islamic Jihad said Taiseer al-Jabari, its commander for northern Gaza, was among the dead. He had succeeded another militant killed in an airstrike in 2019.

This triggered a heavy round of fighting between Israel and the militant group.

An Israeli military spokesman said the attacks were in response to an “imminent threat” posed by two militant squads armed with anti-tank missiles.

The spokesman, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said al-Jabari was deliberately targeted and was responsible for “multiple attacks” on Israel.

Hundreds marched in a funeral procession for him and others who were killed, with many mourners waving Palestinian and Islamic Jihad flags and calling for revenge.

Israeli media showed the skies over southern and central Israel lit up by missiles and interceptors from Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

It was not immediately clear how many rockets were fired, and there were no immediate reports of casualties on the Israeli side.

Overnight, Israel attacked rocket launchers, rocket construction sites and Islamic Jihad positions. In addition, 19 Islamic Jihad fighters were arrested in the West Bank, the military said.

UN special envoy for the region Tor Wennesland said: “The firing of missiles must cease immediately and I call on all sides to avoid further escalation.”

After the initial Israeli attacks, hundreds gathered outside the Shifa Hospital morgue in Gaza City. Some went in to identify loved ones and later reappeared in tears.

“May God have vengeance on spies,” one shouted, referring to Palestinian whistleblowers working with Israel.

Secretary of Defense Benny Gantz approved an order to call up 25,000 reserve soldiers if needed, while the military announced a “special situation” on the home front, closing schools and restricting activities in communities within 50 miles of the border.

Israel earlier this week closed roads around Gaza and sent reinforcements to the border as it prepared for a revenge attack after Monday’s arrest of Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of Islamic Jihad, in a military attack in the occupied West Bank.

A teenage member of the group was killed in a gun battle between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants.

Hamas seized power in the coastal strip from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Their last war with Israel took place in May 2021.

Tensions rose again earlier this year after a spate of attacks in Israel, near-daily military operations in the West Bank and tensions at a flashpoint in the holy site of Jerusalem.

In 2005, Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.

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