Israel Continues Deadly Escalation Across Gaza Strip, Kills Palestinians in West Bank
While deadly Israeli airstrikes continue to pound the Gaza Strip this morning, 12 Palestinians—including 4 children & 4 women—killed by Israeli air strikes, and the US message is to reiterate its “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security”. The total inability to empathize with Palestinians on any level is striking.
Meanwhile, Palestinian military groups in the Gaza Strip vowed to respond to the Israeli airstrikes that killed three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as clashes erupted in the West Bank following the attack. The Israeli air force conducted airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, targeting leaders of the PIJ. The Islamic Jihad said in a statement to the Hamas-affiliated Safa news agency that the Israeli airstrikes hit residential buildings in Gaza City and Rafah near the border with Egypt. The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said ten others were killed in the attack, including four women and four children. The Israeli airstrikes came in response to Islamic Jihad firing more than 100 rockets into Israel last week following the death of one of its senior members, Khader Adnan, who died in an Israeli prison after an 87-day hunger strike. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other like-minded groups typically refer to themselves as the “resistance.”
At the time of writing, local Palestinian social media accounts report rockets have just been fired from Gaza.
At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Tuesday morning, including four children.
Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated places, is home to one million children who make up 50% of the population. Today, 80% of Gaza’s children now report living with depression, grief and fear according to Save the Children.
This morning Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. The slain men have been identified as Ahmad Jamal Assaf, 19, and Warani Walid Qatanat, 24, who were shot by Israeli soldiers in Qabatiya town, south of Jenin. Witnesses reported that a large force of Israeli soldiers “raided the town and broke into several homes in the western neighbourhood, searched them and ransacked them”. “During the assault, soldiers opened fire at a car killing two and wounding a third,” Wafa said.
Yesterday Israeli forces reportedly shot dead an Israeli girl, mistaking her for a Palestinian, at a checkpoint towards the south of Hebron. Israeli media has reported the woman was “mentally ill” and disguised herself as a Palestinian.
The New Arab reports Israel’s extreme-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his political bloc said they were ending their boycott of the government after airstrikes on Gaza killed 13 people, including three senior Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members. “Following the adoption of our position and a transition from containment to attack and targeted assassinations of Islamic Jihad leaders, we will return to vote with the government,” the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, which Ben-Gvir leads, said.
In Israel, the whole country is waiting for the response from Gaza. The waiting is shaking Israelis even more possibly than if there were already a response. The Unknown is terrifying, schools are ordered to close and shelters in southern Israel are already opened. The “Gust of Wind” program has been activated, enabling residents of communities near the Gaza Strip to stay in guest houses across the country during escalations… In addition, a series of restrictions have been placed on communities in southern Israel for Tuesday and Wednesday following the IDF assassination of senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) officials in Gaza.
On the other hand, Netanyahu said… “My instruction to the IDF and security branches is to be prepared for a multi-front campaign…If we need to, we can do it.” Netanyahu also said that Israel will do all it can to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and try to prevent Iran from “establishing terror fronts around us.”