Gaza assassination triggers rocket strikes
Netanyahu warns fighting will be prolonged after Palestinians retaliate to commander’s death
Israelis have been warned to expect prolonged fighting in retaliation for the assassination of a senior Islamic Jihad commander. Palestinian factions in Gaza fired more than 150 rockets into southern Israel, according to the Israeli Defence Forces. It followed the killing of Baha Abu al-ata, the Islamic Jihad leader, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Ata was planning attacks against Israel. Islamic Jihad promised to avenge his death.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU has warned Israelis to be prepared for prolonged fighting after Palestinian factions in Gaza fired barrages of rockets in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of a senior Islamic Jihad commander.
The most serious escalation in six months began early yesterday when Israeli planes targeted Baha Abu al-ata, the military commander of the Iranianbacked Islamic Jihad group in Gaza. The 42-year-old militant and his wife were killed in the strike in Gaza City.
Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called Ata “a ticking bomb” who was planning attacks against Israel “in the immediate short term”. “This arch-terrorist was the main instigator of terrorism from the Gaza Strip,” the prime minister said.
Soon after the Gaza raid, a suspected Israeli airstrike targeted another senior Islamic Jihad leader at his home in Damascus, the group’s headquarters. He was not there, but his son and granddaughter were killed, Syrian state media said. Israel’s military refused to say if it was behind the strike.
Islamic Jihad promised it would go to war to avenge the attacks, and Palestinian factions soon began firing rockets at southern Israel. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said more than 150 rockets were fired yesterday.
Appearing alongside Israel’s military and intelligence chiefs, Mr Netanyahu said there may not be a quick end to the fighting. “Israel is not interested in escalation, but will do everything necessary to defend ourselves,” he said. “This could take time. Patience and composure are required. The IDF must be allowed to do its work.”
The IDF ordered all schools and non-essential businesses to shut in southern Israel, including in the financial capital of Tel Aviv, for the first time since the 2014 Gaza War. Families fled to bomb shelters as warning sirens wailed. Several dozen people were treated for shock or minor injuries, but no fatalities were reported.
In Gaza City, Palestinian families huddled in their homes as Israeli warplanes carried out waves of strikes against Islamic Jihad targets. Five people were killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas health ministry, including Ata, his wife, and two Islamic Jihad fighters. Islamic Jihad is a smaller, more radical faction within Gaza that cooperates with Hamas but sometimes tries to outflank the larger militant group, with a more aggressive stance against Israel. It is estimated to have about 6,000 fighters in Gaza, according to the
Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank, and receives millions of dollars a year from Iran.
Israel and Hamas usually get Egypt to mediate ceasefires during fighting in Gaza. Egyptian officials reportedly opened communications channels, but there was no early sign of a deal.
Israel is currently struggling to form a government following a September election in which Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party essentially tied with Blue and White, a centrist coalition led by former general Benny Gantz.
Mr Netanyahu tried and failed to form a majority coalition and Mr Gantz has one week left to form a government of his own – but the two men set aside political differences amid the violence in the south. Mr Gantz praised the strike as “the right decision”.
Political analysts suggested that the fighting could make it easier for Mr Gantz and Mr Netanyahu to form a national unity government.
Left-wing and Arab-israeli politicians suggested that Mr Netanyahu had timed the strike to create a security crisis for his own political benefit.
But the prime minister said the decision to kill Ata was taken 10 days ago by the security cabinet.