by Laila Bassam, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Arafat Barbakh
BEIRUT/CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces intensified their bombardments on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday amid growing fears of a widening conflict following the assassination the day before in Lebanon of the number two in the Hamas political bureau Palestinian.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the assassination of Saleh al Arouri. Questioned by journalists, the Israeli army spokesperson declared that the IDF was focused on its objective of “eliminating Hamas” and was prepared for “any scenario” following the death of Al Arouri.
Israel accused him of having orchestrated attacks in the occupied West Bank. According to a Hamas official, he was also “at the heart of the negotiations” led by Qatar and Egypt on the outcome of the war and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to deliver a speech in Beirut on Wednesday afternoon. He had previously warned Israel against any assassination on Lebanese soil, promising a “severe reaction”.
“We tell the criminal occupation (Israel) that the battle between us is open,” declared Hossam Badran, member of the Hamas political bureau, in his eulogy for Saleh al Arouri.
Hezbollah, a heavily armed Hamas ally, has exchanged almost daily fire with Israel on Lebanon’s southern border since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip. More than 100 Hezbollah fighters and around twenty civilians were killed on Lebanese territory, as well as at least nine Israeli soldiers in Israel.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said it was deeply concerned about the possibility of an escalation in the country “which could have devastating consequences for populations on both sides of the border.”
Hundreds of Palestinians also took to the streets of Ramallah and other West Bank cities to condemn the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri.
The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani, said for his part that his death would “relaunched (…) the resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupier”.
Israel is committed to continuing the fight until Hamas is eliminated, but the fate of the enclave in the event of success remains uncertain, as does the question of a possible independent Palestinian state.
STRIKES ON REFUGEE CAMP
In Gaza, Israeli forces bombarded the Al Nusseirat refugee camp in the northern part of the enclave governed by Hamas overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, destroying several buildings, according to residents and Palestinian media.
Israeli planes dropped leaflets on the camp, ordering the population to leave seven neighborhoods.
“You are in a dangerous combat zone. The Israeli Defense Forces are conducting intensive operations in your area of residence. For your safety, the IDF urges you to immediately evacuate this area and head to known shelters at Deir al Balah (west),” the leaflets said.
Israeli warplanes and tanks also intensified their attacks on the Al Bureij refugee camp.
Hamas’ military wing said it killed 10 Israeli soldiers during fighting in the camp and hit five tanks and troop carriers. The number of soldiers killed since the start of strikes in Gaza on October 20 has risen to 177, the IDF said.
In the Al Maghazi refugee camp, at least four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house, according to local health authorities. Three other people were reportedly killed in an airstrike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
In its daily update on the conflict, the Israeli army declared that “intensive battles” continued on Wednesday in the town of Khan Younes, in the south of the enclave.
Israel says it is trying to avoid harming civilians, but the death toll on the Palestinian side has now reached 22,185, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Arafat Barbakh in Gaza, Maayan Lubell and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, and Maggie Fick in London, with contributions from Doina Chiacu in Washington, writing by Michael Perry and Angus MacSwan; French version Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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