Gaza militant chief killed in Israeli air strikes
Palestinians accuse Gantz of ‘starting a war’ with escalation in attacks that left five-year-old girl dead
ISRAEL was on the brink of renewed conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza last night after it launched air strikes that killed a senior Palestinian commander and a five-year-old girl.
The first strike on an apartment block in Gaza City, which was carried out yesterday afternoon, killed Tayseer aljabari, the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.
Palestinian officials in Gaza said that 10 people, including the small child, were killed, and dozens had been injured.
Israeli military officials said they had carried out a preemptive attack after several days of threats from militant groups in Gaza, who were angered by the arrest of a senior PIJ figure in the West Bank this week.
The Israeli Defence Force announced that air strikes were continuing overnight, targeting military positions.
Video footage from the aftermath of the air strike showed black smoke billowing from an apartment block in Gaza City.
Another video showed the father of a five-year-old-girl carrying her body through the street wrapped in a white blanket.
PIJ leaders issued a furious response to the attack, accusing Israel of “starting a war”.
The Islamic Jihad group said it fired more than 100 rockets at Israel yesterday, as an “initial response” to deadly Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.
“As an initial response to the killing of senior commander Tayseer al-jabari and his brethren martyrs... the Al-quds Brigade covered Tel Aviv, central cities and areas surrounding Gaza with more than 100 rockets,” PIJ’S military wing said in a statement.
“The Zionist enemy started this aggression, and it must expect us to fight non-stop... There will be no truce after this bombing,” Ziad al-nakhala told Lebanon’s Al-mayadeen television channel from Tehran.
“There are no red lines in this battle... Tel Aviv will also be one of the targets of the resistance’s missiles... as will all Zionist cities,” he added.
Benny Gantz, Israel’s defence minister, said after the air strikes: “The goal is to protect the State of Israel and the citizens of Israel – we will not allow anyone to threaten or harm the citizens of Israel. Whoever tries to do so – will get hurt.”
Israeli military officials said last night that their operation, Breaking Dawn, was ongoing and that they were braced for a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza on central Israel.
They estimated that between 10 and 20 Palestinian fighters were killed in the air strike, which was launched at 2.16pm local time.
In a statement, PIJ accused Israel of “starting a war against our people”.
“We collectively must defend ourselves and our people.
“We will not allow the enemy’s policy of undermining the resistance and our national perseverance,” the group said. Tensions between Israel and Gaza intensified this week after Israeli forces arrested a senior PIJ figure in the West Bank, which prompted its leaders in Gaza to issue threats of a military response.
Earlier yesterday, a couple of hundred Israelis protested near the Gaza Strip to demand the return of captive Avraham Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, and the remains of two Israeli soldiers held by Hamas.
The protesters were led by the family of Hadar Goldin, who along with Oron Shaul was killed in the 2014 Gaza war.
Hamas is still holding their remains, as well as two Israeli civilians who strayed into Gaza and are believed to be mentally ill, in the hope of exchanging them for some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The protesters pushed through two police checkpoints on a road near the heavily-guarded Gaza frontier before stopping at a third checkpoint.
An Israeli military spokesman said the army acted preemptively after a number of Palestinian anti-tank squads were seen “on the move” near the border with Israel.
The army did not immediately respond to reports that the airstrike also killed a young child.
Last night’s escalation evoked bitter memories of the Gaza conflict in May last year in which some 260 Palestinians and 15 Israelis were killed.
Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, has signalled that it will join forces with PIJ in any future round of fighting in Israel, in what could lead to a major conflict on a similar scale to last year.
Later yesterday evening, Israel launched a second series of air strikes on Gaza targeting PIJ positions.
A White House spokesman said it was monitoring the situation closely.
They said: “We urge all sides for calm. We firmly believe that Israel has the right to protect itself.”