San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Gaza militants, Israel trade fire in growing fight
GAZA CITY — Israeli air strikes flattened homes in Gaza on Saturday and rocket barrages into Israel persisted, raising fears of an escalation in a conflict that has killed at least 15 people in the coastal strip.
The fighting began with Israel’s killing of a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in a wave of strikes Friday that Israel said were meant to prevent an imminent attack. A 5-year-old girl and two women are among those killed in the strikes.
So far, Hamas, the larger militant group that rules Gaza, appeared to stay on the sidelines of the conflict, keeping its intensity somewhat contained. Israel and Hamas fought a war barely a year ago, one of four major conflicts and several smaller battles over the last 15 years that wreaked a staggering cost to the destitute territory’s 2 million Palestinian residents. Whether Hamas continues to stay out of the fight likely depends in part on how much punishment Israel inflicts in Gaza as rocket fire steadily continues.
The Israeli military said an errant rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed civilians, including children, in the northern Gaza Strip. There was no official Palestinian comment on the incident. A Palestinian medical worker, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the blast killed at least six people, including three children.
Israeli warplanes stepped up strikes with hits on four residential buildings in Gaza City, all locations apparently linked to Islamic Jihad militants. The destruction was the heaviest yet in the current exchange within the densely packed city. In each case, the Israeli military warned residents ahead of the strikes.
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on a residential building in Gaza City. The fighting began with Israel’s killing of a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
In one of the strikes, fighter jets dropped two bombs on the house of an Islamic Jihad member. The blast flattened the two-story structure, leaving a large rubble-filled crater, and badly damaged surrounding homes.
Women and children rushed out of the area. “Warned us? They warned us with rockets and we fled without taking anything,” said Huda Shamalakh, who lived next door. She said 15 people lived in the targeted home.
The lone power plant in Gaza ground to a halt at noon Saturday
for lack of fuel as Israel has kept its crossing points into Gaza closed since Tuesday. With the new disruption, Gazans can get only 4 hours of electricity a day, increasing their reliance on private generators and deepening the territory’s chronic power crisis amid peak summer heat.
Throughout the day, Gaza militants regularly launched rounds of rockets into Israel. The Israeli military said Saturday evening that nearly 450 rockets had been fired, 350 of which made it into Israel, but almost all were intercepted by
Israel’s Iron Dome missiledefense system. Two people suffered minor shrapnel wounds.
On Friday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a televised speech that “Israel isn’t interested in a broader conflict in Gaza but will not shy away from one either.”
Egypt on Saturday intensified efforts to prevent escalation, communicating with Israel, the Palestinians and the United States.