Israel warns war in Gaza closer after attacks
Palestinian militants launch mortar attacks; Jerusalem responds with airstrikes across the region
ISRAEL warned last night it was closer to war in Gaza than it had been in years after Palestinian militants fired dozens of mortars at Israeli towns. Israel’s military responded with heavy air strikes across Gaza.
In the most serious exchange of fire between the two sides since the end of the 2014 conflict, Israel’s military said waves of missiles were fired out of Gaza into southern Israel. At least three soldiers were wounded. One shell fell into a kindergarten, spraying the front of the school with shrapnel, but as it was 7am, the children had not yet arrived.
Israel accused Islamic Jihad, the militant group, of doing most of the shelling but said Hamas, the Islamist faction that controls Gaza, also participated in the attack. Israeli jets struck more than 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad bases across Gaza in response, the military said. No injuries were reported in Gaza from the strikes.
The exchange of fire comes after weeks of heightened tensions on the Gaza border, where Israeli forces have killed more than 100 Palestinians during protests. Most of the dead were unarmed but some were engaged in bomb and gun attacks on Israeli troops.
Although neither Israel nor the Palestinian factions are believed to be looking for a full-blown war, the violence raised concerns about an escalation of fighting that could send both sides stumbling into all-out conflict. Israel Katz, the Israeli intelligence minister, said: “We are the closest to the threshold of war since Operation Protective Edge,” he said. “We don’t want it, and the other side doesn’t either, but we have our red lines.”
The shelling from Gaza into Israel was widely condemned internationally. Britain said the “indiscriminate attacks” were “completely unacceptable under any circumstances.”
The Israeli military said most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system. The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed joint responsibility for the shelling. “We will not let the enemy impose a new equation involving killing our people for free. The equation we will keep says: shelling for shelling and blood for blood,” a statement said.
Israeli forces killed three Islamic Jihad fighters on Sunday after they tried to plant an explosive near the Gaza border fence, according to Israel’s military. The Islamist group had vowed revenge for the killings.
Israel has a policy of holding Hamas responsible for any attacks coming out of Gaza, regardless of which group actually did the shooting. “We know that Hamas controls the Gaza strip and is able to control what happens,” said Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli spokesman. He said Israel was “not looking to escalate the situation” and that the “ball is in Hamas’ hands” as to whether the fighting would escalate.
Lt Col Conricus said that the 107mm mortars fired by Islamic Jihad were supplied by Iran, which has long funded the group as a proxy force against Israel. “There’s no doubt that the Iranians are involved,” he said.