Gaza: a revival of tension between Israel and Islamic jihad raises fears

The Hebrew state bombed the Palestinian enclave on Friday, killing ten people including a 5 -year -old girl and one of the heads of the Islamist movement, who retaliated by pulling more than a hundred rockets.

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Once again, Gaza is about to switch to war. And, as always, behind the scenes, the Egyptian mediations and Qatari, supported by the United Nations (UN), are activated to avoid the worst – for the moment, with relative success.

Friday, August 5, in the middle of the afternoon, the Israeli army attacked the enclave, notably targeting a building in a residential area, in the center of Gaza City. These strikes, followed by other bursts a few hours later and then bombing in the night, killed Taysir al-Jabari, commander of the al-qods brigades, the armed branch of Islamic jihad, the movement which, with Hamas, controls the Gaza strip.

Other activists of this organization close to Iran were also killed but also civilians, including a 5 -year -old girl. The Palestinian Ministry of Health brought in ten dead and 75 injured. For its part, the Israeli army says it has killed fifteen Palestinians.

The risky bet of Israel

The response was quick: from 9 p.m., Islamic jihad drew more than a hundred rockets towards Israel, some going as far as Yam beats, in the south of Tel Aviv, without doing injured or victims. “The Zionist enemy has taken the initiative of this aggression and must expect a war without surrender, launched the secretary general of the Islamist movement, Ziad al-Nakhala, in an interview with Lebanese television pro-Hezbollah al- Mayadeen, from Tehran. We have no red lines. “

The approximately 2.3 million Gazaouis, deprived of electricity in the wet heat of summer, spent the nighttime in overcrowded buildings, preparing for the worst. Previously, long lines had formed on Friday evening in front of the bakeries and shops. Still traumatized by the intensity of the bombings during the previous war, in May 2021, which left 260 dead Palestinian side and thirteen victims on the Israeli side, the Palestinians have nowhere where to take refuge in the enclave which suffocates under blockade Israeli blockade -Egyptian for over fifteen years.

By launching this attack, Israel, in the midst of a political crisis after the collapse of the ruling coalition in June, takes the risky bet to undertake an open conflict.

The 1 August, during a raid in Jenine, the Hebrew State arrested the head of the Islamic jihad in occupied West Bank, Bassam al-Saadi, 62, as well as his son-in-law . A 17 -year -old Palestinian, a member of the organization, had been killed during the operation. In the process, the Israeli authorities had announced the closure of the crossing points to Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian day laborers and around fifty patients who had to go out for treatment suddenly blocked. The supply of the Enclave unique power plant was also jeopardized. As for the Israeli localities around the Gaza strip, they were completed and the access roads closed, the government fearing a response from the Islamic jihad.

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