Israel estimated Friday to have killed 15 fighters in strikes on the Gaza Strip targeting the Islamic Jihad organization, in which several civilians including a child also perished, according to the authorities of the Palestinian enclave. During this “preventive attack” against the Islamic Jihad, 15 fighters were killed, estimated an Israeli military spokesman, Richard Hecht, assuring that the operation was not finished. According to him, the Jewish state expects rocket fire from Gaza into central Israel.
The Islamic Jihad, an organization considered terrorist by Israel, the European Union and the United States, has confirmed the death of one of its leaders, Tayssir Al-Jabari. The Ministry of Health in Gaza, for its part, reported eight dead, “including a five-year-old girl”, and 44 injured.
Several strikes in the city center
Witnesses and Palestinian security sources told AFP they saw several strikes, including one in central Gaza City. AFP journalists saw the injured being evacuated by the emergency services and firefighters working to put out fires.
“The Zionist enemy started this aggression and must expect us to fight relentlessly… There will be no truce after this bombardment,” said Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad al. -Nakhala, in an interview with the Lebanese television Al-Mayadeen, in Tehran, the Iranian capital. “There will be no red lines in this battle…Tel Aviv and other Zionist cities will be targets of resistance missiles,” he added.
Raids after the arrest of an Islamic Jihad leader
These raids on Gaza, a territory of 2.3 million inhabitants under Israeli blockade, come after the arrest Monday of a leader of Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank, Bassem Saadi. The Israeli authorities feared reprisal attacks from Gaza, an enclave controlled by the Islamists of Hamas where Islamic Jihad is well established. The army had deployed reinforcements in the area adjacent to the Palestinian territory, including tanks, roads had been blocked and trains removed.
“To our enemies, and particularly to the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, I would like to insist: your time is running out. The threat (to southern Israel, editor’s note) will be eliminated one way or another” , Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid assured him that the security forces would act “against Islamic Jihad terrorists to eliminate the threat they pose to the citizens of Israel”. “Anyone trying to hurt Israel should know that we will find you,” he added.
A closure of border crossings since Tuesday
Since 2007, the Jewish state has imposed a strict blockade on Gaza, an enclave undermined by poverty and unemployment. The Israeli army on Tuesday ordered the closure of border crossings, forcing thousands of Gazans, holders of work permits in Israel, to stay at home. This closure has slowed the delivery of diesel, needed to power the Gaza power plant. This single power plant risks closing due to a lack of fuel, its director warned on Thursday. About 50 people who normally leave the enclave daily for treatment have also been affected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Israel’s last strikes on Gaza date back to July 19. The Israeli army had targeted a Hamas position after a shot from the enclave. Israel and armed groups in Gaza have fought several wars, the last of which was in May 2021. Amid tensions that began in East Jerusalem, the 11-day war left 260 Palestinians dead, including many fighters, and 13 dead in Israel, including a soldier, according to local authorities.