Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 10 as tensions escalate

Middle East, News August 5, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Friday killed at least 10 people, including a 5-year-old girl and a commander of the Islamic Jihad group. The airstrikes followed almost a week of rising tensions.

The strikes hit residential apartments, killing at least 10 people including a 5-year-old girl, and wounding 55, the Gaza health ministry said. One airstrike killed Taysir al-Jabari, a senior military leader in Islamic Jihad, according to both Islamic Jihad and the Israeli military.

“Ten Palestinians were martyred and 44 others injured in a series of Israeli air raids on Gaza Strip,” the Palestinian Health Ministry statement said.

Videos and photos showed smoke rising from the seventh floor of the building in Gaza City. Rescue teams were immediately rushed to the scene to evacuate people and put out a fire caused by the attack.

“The IDF is currently striking in the Gaza Strip. A special situation has been declared on the Israeli home front,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

The strikes came after Israel arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin earlier this week.

*^{Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City on August 5, 2022. Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed several people. (Image Credit: AP)}*

The Israeli airstrikes prompted Palestinian militants in Gaza to fire dozens of rockets into Israel. The rescue service said there were no reports of casualties in Tel Aviv. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense shield intercepted most of those rockets.

Palestinian Authority condemns ‘Israeli aggression’

The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli “aggression” against the Gaza Strip. In a press statement, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to stop the “aggression” immediately and said that the Israeli army was “responsible for this dangerous escalation.” He called on the international community to force Israel to stop the aggression.

Israeli warplanes launch a new series of attacks on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/JrNzlJ7aOH
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) August 5, 2022

PM Lapid says Israel’s Gaza operation ‘will take as long as it needs’

In a televised speech on Friday night, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that his country had launched the attacks based on a “concrete threat against Israeli civilians.” Lapid also said Israel’s military operation against the Gaza Strip “will take as long as it needs.”

“This government has a zero tolerance policy for any attempted attacks — of any kind — from Gaza towards Israeli territory,” Lapid said. He pledged to do “whatever it takes to defend our people”.

“Our fight is not with the people of Gaza. Islamic Jihad is an Iranian proxy that wants to destroy the State of Israel and kill innocent Israelis,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Islamic Jihad reaction

Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhalah, in an interview from Iran on the al-Mayadeen TV network from Iran, said “the fighters of the Palestinian resistance have to stand together to confront this aggression.” He said there would be “no red lines” and blamed the violence on Israel.

Islamic Jihad is a militant group with a similar ideology to the Islamist group Hamas. Islamic Jihad claimed that it had fired more than 100 rockets on Friday into Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv.

UN Envoy says “No justification for any attacks against civilians”

Reacting to the situation in Gaza, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said he is “deeply concerned” by the escalation between the Israelis and Palestinians, including the “targeted killing today of an Islamic Jihad leader.” He said that was “deeply saddened by reports that a five-year-old child has been killed in these strikes. There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians.”

The UN envoy called on both sides to prevent further escalation, saying that “the UN is fully engaged with all concerned in an attempt to avoid a further conflict which would have devastating consequences, mainly for civilians.”