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Explosions may have been heard in some areas as Israel’s extensive air defense system intercepted many of the projectiles.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the rocket impact, but officials said one house in the city of Sderot was on fire. At least five of her people were being treated at a hospital in the city of Ashkelon for the injuries and emotional distress she suffered while rushing to the shelter. More than one million Israelis are in shelters, according to the military.
The rocket strikes targeted what the military said were rocket launch positions, following several Israeli airstrikes inside Gaza on Wednesday. was About to be used to attack Israel. At least one person was killed in the attacks, according to Palestinian authorities.
The military escalation follows operations early Tuesday morning, Forty Israeli aircraft simultaneously attacked three housing complexes in the enclave, killing three senior Islamic Jihad leaders in Palestine and at least 12 others.
Overall, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said 20 people had been killed and 42 injured in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday morning. Among the dead were five children and four women.
Israelis and Gazans, so accustomed to military violence following a pattern of attacks and counterattacks, were tense Wednesday morning after an unexpectedly calm night.
Some said the waiting was more excruciating than the sirens and explosions.
The latest rocket barrage was launched by the Islamic Jihad forces, an Israeli military officer said in a briefing, a conclusion based on surveillance from aerial drones. He said there were no indications that the group was participating in the attack, but the Israeli military was ready for the group to get involved.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have pledged Israel to pay for recent attacks. The rocket attack, dubbed Operation “Revenge of Liberty”, reached central Israel and “contained hundreds of missiles,” it said. “
In a separate statement, Islamic Jihad said all rival armed groups in Gaza responded in unity.
“The response to the crime of assassination will be done in the context of confronting the aggression of the occupation,” Daud Shehab, an Islamic Jihad official in Gaza, said in a statement. “Response is consensus [among Palestinian factions]This is a message to the occupation forces that their attempt to divide the Palestinian people has failed. “
Israel said Wednesday it was concentrating on attacking militants trying to launch rockets. In one attack, using surveillance drones and attack aircraft, Israel hit a group it said was preparing a launch near a separation fence in southern Gaza. The attack killed one person, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Schools remain closed across Gaza and in Israel within about 25 miles of the border, and the Israeli Ministry of Education has launched a distance learning program. On social media, Israeli families said they spent the night in fortified safe rooms and shelters. A shelter was opened.
Gazans were stranded near their homes after running out to stock up on food on Tuesday. There are no public bunkers in the enclave, and residents know that an Israeli attack, almost inevitably followed by militant rockets, could land anywhere. In 2021, over 230 Gazans were killed in a two-week escalation.
“We live in a state of war without actual war,” said Diaa Saud, 48, a carpenter who waits tensely in front of her Gaza City apartment where her eight children had been displaced. Told. Wednesday’s attack by an Israeli plane was not near his neighborhood.
“My children don’t go to school and they ask me what will happen.Will there be a war or what?” said Reem al-Sirhi, 31. I’m scared, so I don’t let my kids see it. “
Tensions rose early Tuesday morning when 40 Israeli military aircraft simultaneously attacked three housing complexes in the Gaza Strip, killing three leaders of the Islamic Jihad group. The blast killed a man, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and several members of their family, as well as his three members of a nearby family, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Israel said three leaders were responsible for several terrorist attacks inside Israel and one was largely responsible for firing more than 100 rockets into Israel last week.
Palestinian factions within Gaza, including Hamas, have promised Israel will pay the price. Israeli officials have warned citizens of reprisals that could extend beyond the Gaza region to Tel Aviv and even to the hostile northern border with Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on Tuesday night, saying the army was ready to fight on multiple fronts.
“We are in the middle of a battle and it will require patience and the ability to stand strong in the days ahead,” Netanyahu said.
Less than a week after Egyptian mediators brokered a ceasefire between the parties, militant groups inside Gaza were caught off-guard by Israeli actions, according to analysts on both sides, prompting calls from inside Gaza. Slow to react. The group may have hoped to coordinate a joint response and heighten Israelis’ sense of unease.
Gaza City Political Analyst Mustafa Ibrahim said: “The wait-and-see situation is unlike anything the Gaza Strip has ever experienced. “It could be a plus or a minus for the Palestinian faction.”
In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu was able to sidestep growing unrest within his coalition. For the first time in years, he faces mounting opposition within his own government and from the Israeli public, according to Hebrew University political scientist Gail Tarsir.
“War always unites the Israelis and definitely draws the right wing,” said Tarsir.
The campaign comes after Netanyahu’s confrontation with unprecedented street protests. Hundreds of thousands of citizens rushed to the streets to halt the government’s planned judicial reforms, threatening to repeatedly bring the economy to a standstill and affect reserve personnel from Israel’s relatively small army. rice field.
The crisis robbed him of the top spot in the polls for the first time in over a decade. A major Israeli TV channel showed that most citizens no longer believed he was the right person to lead the country. even called Prime Minister Netanyahu last month to explain why “something is going wrong” despite his government’s solid 64-seat majority in parliament.
A confrontation with Gaza would also soften his hardline coalition members, including many far-right critics who argue that Israel should use its powerful military to crush militant groups in Gaza. Following a predawn airstrike that killed three senior Islamic Jihad leaders on Tuesday, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gubir said his party was ending a week-long boycott of the Knesset vote. said it would close its headquarters in the southern Israeli city of Sderot.
Barousha reported from Gaza City.
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