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JERUSALEM – Palestinian militants in Gaza on Monday launched an intense and sustained rocket and mortar attack in much of southern Israel in retaliation for the killing of seven fighters by forces Israeli during a failed secret operation in Gaza the night before.
Israeli aircraft retaliated and targeted targets in Gaza
Fighting threatened to sabotage months of multilateral talks to calm the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, where demonstrations that have taken place since the month of March sparked a lethal reaction from Israel, causing about 170 deaths injuring thousands of others. The talks had already resulted in concrete measures to ease tensions in Gaza, including an increase in electricity consumption and the influx of millions of dollars in aid.
More than 200 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel in the space of only two hours Monday afternoon. 60 of them were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defense system, announced the Israeli army. As night fell, the army announced that its fighter planes, attack helicopters and tanks had struck more than 70 military targets in Gaza belonging to militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
and three others were injured. More than a dozen Israelis were reportedly injured in rocket and mortar attacks, including a 19-year-old man seriously injured by an anti-tank missile near a bus near Kfar Aza, northeast of Gaza.
The Israeli army ordered all southern residents, including those from Ashdod and Beersheba towns, to remain in bomb shelters. According to sources, houses were reported to have been hit and residents wounded in Netivot and Sderot, Israeli towns near northern Gaza. Air raid sirens have been heard as far as Hebron and the Dead Sea region.
The escalation comes hours after Palestinians and Israelis buried fighters killed on Sunday night, after what the Israeli media described as an Israeli intelligence mission inside the territory. Gaza Strip gone bad.
Six Hamas fighters, including a commander of forces in the Khan Younis area, and a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, another armed faction, were killed. An Israeli lieutenant colonel of Maglan's elite unit, a brigade of commandos, was also killed in clashes and was hailed as a national hero at his funeral Monday.
According to a former Israeli official familiar with the operation, the mission's goal was surveillance, not an badbadination. Israeli intelligence agents frequently perform this type of operation, which usually involves installing surveillance equipment. Due to careful planning, they are considered to have a low risk of exposure and confrontation.
Israeli officials did not publicly explain the mission or what was wrong with it.
"The purpose of the operation was not to abduct and kill a Hamas member," said Monday night the spokesman for the Israeli army, the Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus. He added that once Israeli forces encountered trouble, they "acted quickly, professionally, able to defend themselves, exfiltrate in a very professional manner, ensuring that all soldiers returned to Israel." and that no one is left behind ".
Invited to respond to accusations that Israel violated an informal ceasefire, Colonel Conricus said there was no official agreement. "We are not aware of any ceasefires," he said. "No such thing has ever been put in place."
However, he said that Sunday's covert operation was not a deliberate provocation, but was part of the Israeli army's routine deal with terrorist threats that cross its borders. 19659002] "Just as terrorist organizations do not stop planning, keeping weapons and trying to hit Israeli civilians, so do we not in our preparations, collection efforts and operations. let's do it to mitigate the capabilities of the different terrorist organizations around us, "he said.
The fact that the mission was botched has already had effects that go far beyond its mandate. In addition to the heavy shelling on Monday and between the two sides, it could defeat Egypt's negotiated ceasefire negotiations, which have seemed to show progress in recent days.
the negotiations had already resulted in measures to relieve the lives of Gazans.
Israel has agreed to allow new deliveries of diesel fuel to Gaza's power plant, increasing the availability of electricity for residents of the beleaguered coastal enclave and allowing water sanitation waste.
Last week, Israel allowed Qatar to send $ 15 million in cash to Gaza, a payment that Hamas paid to thousands of its officials who received only $ 25,000 in cash. a fraction of their amount. wages for months.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of Sunday's talks, saying he "was doing everything in his power for this is a useless war. "
It was a few hours before the cover of the Israeli commando was unveiled at Khan Younis, triggering an exchange of gunfire and demanding air strikes to cover his withdrawal to Israel.
Hamas, the group that governs Gaza, is collaborating in strikes against Israel with rival factions such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, popular resistance committees and several other armed groups, according to a joint statement.
The groups described the dam as "thoughtful and thoughtful reaction to last night's match. an incident "and warned Israel that" the range and intensity of Gaza fire will increase according to the volume of the Israeli reaction. "
Moatasem al-Aloul, a driver from Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, told AFP He was stuck in traffic when he suddenly saw people fleeing the rocket fire as explosions creaked over their heads.
"The bombings are everywhere, "he said, in the fighting, the streets were almost empty and many people were still in. There were few cars on the road and the loudest noise was that of Israeli drones hovering overhead. above the head
As a sign of respect for the reach of Palestinian rockets, Israel began opening bomb shelters up to 25 miles from the Gaza border.
At Kibbutz Alumim , less than three kilometers from the Gaza border, Sa Ra Mash, 32, secretary, said that her three children and her husband were in their safe, their children's room, since 16:30 heard an explosion, and then an air raid siren.
"We had moments like this, but you could at least get out of the safe room and breathe," she said over the phone. "It's a situation where we could not, because every second there was a boom, nonstop – and you have no idea what's going on outside: is it our side or their?"
Then she suddenly shouted: "Red alert, red alert – get it back!" And ended the call.
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