IDF eliminates top Gaza leaders; Israeli hit by rocket.

Israel Kills Islamic Jihad Leaders in Gaza

Israel has killed the head of Islamic Jihad’s rocket force and his deputy, as part of an operation that has cost 30 lives in Gaza, including women and children. The Palestinian group has responded with cross-border rocket attacks, which have resulted in the first fatality in Israel. Despite mediation efforts by Egypt, neither side seems ready to douse the worst flare-up since August, now in its third day.

Israel’s Offensive and Defensive Campaign

“We are at the height of a campaign, both offensive and defensive,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a videotaped statement issued during a visit to an air base. “Whoever comes to harm us – his blood is forfeit.”

The deaths of Ali Ghali and Ahmed Abu Daqqa brought to five the number of senior figures from Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad killed since Israel began striking Gaza early on Tuesday. Two gunmen from a splinter group died in a separate strike on Thursday. The identities of two men killed elsewhere were not immediately clear. Four women and six children have also died.

Islamic Jihad’s Response

But Islamic Jihad, the second-biggest armed group in Gaza after the ruling Hamas Islamists, kept up volleys of rockets. “We will not retreat and the assassinations will only make us stronger. Our revenge continues,” it said in a communique.

The hundreds of rockets launched have set off sirens as far north as Tel Aviv. Some 1.5 million Israelis – 16% of the population – have been ordered to shelters, military spokesperson Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

International Calls for Ceasefire

After more than a year of resurgent Israeli-Palestinian violence that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners since January, the latest escalation drew international calls for a ceasefire. But Cairo, which hosted senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammad al-Hindi for talks, was circumspect about prospects.

“Egypt’s efforts to calm things down and resume the political process have not yet borne fruit,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters.

Impact on Civilians

Both in blockaded Gaza, where residents have been experiencing decades of a worsening humanitarian crisis, and in surrounding Israeli towns, schools and businesses remained shut. “We can’t sleep at night because we worry about bombardment,” said Mohammad Abu el-Subbah, 24, outside a bakery in Gaza City. “People have no clue what will happen next, whether there will be a truce or the war will continue.”

At least 80 people were wounded in the air strikes that destroyed five buildings and damaged more than 300 apartments, said Salama Marouf, chairman of the media office for Hamas, the group that rules the densely populated coastal territory.

Israel’s military said over 100 rockets – many of them improvised – had fallen short, killing four Palestinians, including a 10-year-old girl. Islamic Jihad denied that.

Background

Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank, areas Palestinians want for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in a 1967 war. Israeli forces and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Statehood talks have been frozen since 2014.