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JERUSALEM – Palestinian militants in Gaza on Monday launched a rocket and mortar attack on much of southern Israel in retaliation for the killing of seven fighters by Israeli forces during a botched secret operation. in Gaza the night before.
An Israeli plane fired back, hitting targets in Gaza.
The fighting has threatened to end several months of multilateral talks aimed at easing the border between Israel and Gaza, where protests since March have sparked a deadly reaction from Israel, causing some 170 deaths and deaths. 170 injured among unarmed Palestinians.
More than 200 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel during the first two hours of Monday afternoon, including 60 intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defense system, the Israeli army announced. . As night fell, the army declared that its fighter planes, attack helicopters and tanks had struck more than 70 military targets in Gaza belonging to militant Hamas groups and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Authorities in Gaza said three Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes and three others wounded. 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.
The escalation comes hours after Palestinians and Israelis buried fighters killed Sunday night, after what the Israeli media described as an Israeli intelligence mission in the Gaza Strip that went wrong.
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 the Maglan Elite Unit, a commando brigade, was also killed during the clash and was hailed as a national hero at his funeral Monday.
According to a former Israeli official familiar with the operation, the mission was aimed at surveillance and not at the assassination. Israeli intelligence agents frequently perform this type of operation, which usually involves installing surveillance equipment. Due to extensive 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 goal of the operation was not to kidnap or kill a Hamas member," said Monday evening Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the army Israeli. He said that once Israeli forces encountered trouble, they "acted quickly, professionally, able to defend themselves, exfiltrate in a very professional manner, ensuring that all soldiers have returned to Israel and that no one is left behind ".
Asked to respond to accusations that Israel has violated an informal ceasefire, Colonel Conricus said there was no official agreement. "We are not aware of any ceasefires," he said. "Nothing like it's ever been in place."
Nevertheless, he added that Sunday's covert operation was not a deliberate provocation, but was part of the Israeli army's ongoing activities to deal with the terrorist threats that cross its borders.
"Just as the terrorist organizations do not stop planning, keeping their weapons and trying to hit Israeli civilians, we are not doing it either in our preparations, our collection efforts and our operations that we carry out. to mitigate the capabilities of the various terrorist organizations around us, "he said.
The fact that the mission was botched has already had effects far beyond the scope of the mission itself. In addition to the heavy shelling on Monday and between the two sides, it could derail Egypt's negotiated ceasefire negotiations, which seemed to show that progress had been made in recent days.
With both parties eager to tackle the collapse of Gaza's economy, electricity shortages and the worsening of the humanitarian crisis, the talks have already led to concrete measures to make life easier for residents. from Gaza.
Israel has agreed to let new shipments of diesel fuel be delivered to Gaza's power plant, which would significantly increase the amount of electricity available to residents of the beleaguered coastal enclave and allow treatment facilities to expand. wastewater to resume their activities.
Last week, Israel allowed Qatar to send $ 15 million in cash to Gaza, which Hamas distributed in return to thousands of its officials who receive only a fraction of their salary for months.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the importance of Sunday's talks, saying that he "was doing everything in his power to avoid unnecessary war."
It was a few hours before the Israeli commando's cover was unveiled in Khan Younis, triggering a shootout and requiring air strikes to cover his retirement in Israel.
Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip, was taking part in strikes against Israel with rival factions, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the 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 incident" and warned Israel that "the range and intensity of Gaza fire will increase according to the volume of the Israeli reaction".
Moatasem al-Alul, a driver from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, said that he was stuck in traffic jams when he suddenly saw people fleeing the rocket fire, while explosions creaked over their heads.
"The shelling is everywhere," he said.
At nightfall, during a lull in fighting, the streets of parts of Gaza City were almost empty and many people remained inside. There were few cars on the road and the most powerful sound was that of Israeli drones hovering overhead.
As a sign of respect for the reach of Palestinian rockets, Israel began opening bomb shelters up to 25 miles from the Gaza border.
In Kibbutz Alumim, less than three kilometers from the Gaza border, Sara Mash, 32, secretary, said that her three children and her husband were in their safe – their children's room – since 16:30, when They heard a first explosion and then an air raid siren.
"We've had moments like this, but you can 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 this party or theirs? "
Then she suddenly shouted, "Red alert, red alert – get it back!" And ended the call.
