Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mideast strife
Israeli airstrikes answer second day of rocket fire.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Islamic Jihad militant group early today announced a cease-fire ending two days of heavy fighting with Israel.
Spokesman Musab alBerim said the Egyptian-brokered deal went into effect at 5:30 a.m.
He said the cease-fire was based on a list of demands presented by his group late Wednesday, including a halt to Israeli targeted killings of the group’s leaders. The fighting broke out early Tuesday after Israel killed a senior commander of the militant group.
Israeli officials say Bahaa Abu el-Atta was responsible for numerous rocket attacks and was plotting a large-scale border infiltration.
The rare targeted killing by Israel sparked the heaviest fighting with Gaza militants since May. Islamic Jihad fired some 400 rockets toward Israel, while Israel responded with scores of airstrikes.
Palestinian officials reported 32 deaths, including a 7-year-old boy and six members of a single family.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which rarely acknowledges unofficial deals with militant groups.
But U.N. and Islamic Jihad officials were in touch Wednesday with Egyptian mediators, who typically broker deals to end fighting in Gaza.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.N.’s Mideast envoy, Nickolay Mladenov said he was “very concerned about the ongoing and serious escalation between Palestinian Islamic
Jihad and Israel. The U.N. is working to urgently de-escalate the situation.”
Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction, responded to Israel’s killing of Abu el-Attaby launching dozens of rockets toward Israel, some reaching as far as Tel Aviv, prompting Israel to carry out scores of airstrikes.
The rocket fire brought much of Israel to a standstill. Schools closed throughout southern Israel, people stayed home from work and large public gatherings were banned. Air-raid sirens wailed during the day and into the evening. By Wednesday night, the army said 360 rockets had been fired at Israel.
In Gaza, schools and public institutions also were closed for a second day and there were few cars on the streets, with people mostly staying indoors.
Convening Israel’s top security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped the fighting would end quickly.
“We are not bent on escalation, but we will do whatever is necessary to restore the quiet and security to the residents of Israel, including the residents of the south,” he said.
Hamas, the larger and more powerful militant group that controls Gaza, has so far avoided entering the fray.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army was limiting its strikes to Islamic Jihad targets and avoiding conflict with Hamas to prevent an escalation.
“However, it’s very clear that if there will be Israeli casualties, the situation would change drastically and we would be forced to respond in a different manner,” he said.
Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and artillery batteries took up positions along the Gaza border.
No Israeli deaths were reported, in part because of Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, which the military said has a 90% success rate when deployed.
A few homes suffered direct hits, though, and there was a near miss on a major highway, where a rocket crashed just after a vehicle passed. In all, three people suffered slight wounds from shrapnel or shattered glass caused by rocket fire, medical officials said.
Israel’s strikes against Islamic Jihad marked the latest manifestation of a spreading battle between Israel and Iranian proxies in the region.
Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons and expertise.
Netanyahu also has claimed Iran is using Iraq and far-off Yemen, where Tehran supports Shiite Houthi rebels at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to plan attacks against Israel. Hamas also receives some support from Iran.
Israel frequently hits Iranian interests in Syria. But on Tuesday, Syrian officials said an Israeli airstrike targeted a senior Islamic Jihad militant in Damascus, a rare assassination attempt of a Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. Israel did not comment on the airstrike, which missed the militant but killed two of his relatives.
Despite the disruption to daily life, there appeared to be widespread support in Israel for the targeting of Abu el-Atta.
Still, some opposition figures suggested the timing could not be divorced from the political reality in Israel, where Netanyahu leads a caretaker government while his main challenger, former military chief Benny Gantz, is trying to build his own coalition government.