JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) – The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza suffered one of the deadliest attacks in years in the occupied West Bank on Friday, following an international effort to defuse tensions. claimed responsibility for the rockets fired into Israel overnight.
Israeli jets struck Gaza on Friday in retaliation for rockets that were alarming Israeli communities near the border with the blocked southern coastline controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas.
There have been no reports of casualties on either side, and signs of an escalation into a more serious conflict, as seen repeatedly in recent years, with Palestinian groups firing hundreds of rockets and Israel attacking Gaza. was not immediately.
exchange continued overnight Israeli raids At least nine Palestinians died in West Bank refugee camps on Thursday, bringing the number of Palestinian deaths so far in 2023 to at least 30.
The deaths, including militant gunmen and at least two civilians, left the West Bank with the highest daily death toll in years, with another man killed in a separate incident in the Jerusalem suburb of Arram.
The raid is the latest in a series of clashes that have erupted almost daily in the West Bank over the past year, and comes just days before Secretary of State Anthony Brinken is due to visit Israel and the West Bank. Washington called for calm from both sides.
In Gaza, thousands of Islamic Jihad supporters rallied following Friday’s prayers to call for a step-up in the fight against Israel in the wake of Jenin’s raids.
“We were up all night with bombings and missiles,” said 50-year-old Abdallah Al-Husary. “There is worry and fear. War can break out at any time. If there is conflict in the West Bank, there could be war along the Gaza border.”
At the Jabalya refugee camp, one of the movement’s leaders, Khaled al-Batosh claimed responsibility for the rocket attack and said Israel could not isolate Gaza from the West Bank.
“The rocket forces of the Jerusalem Brigade responded,” he said.
Islamic Jihad, the Iran-backed movement to overthrow Israel, operates in West Bank flashpoints such as Nablus and Jenin, and in Gaza, alongside the larger and more powerful Hamas group.
In August, Israeli jets bombed Gaza targets linked to the group during a weekend confrontation that saw hundreds of Islamic jihad rockets fired against Israel, most of which were intercepted by air defense systems. rice field.
[1/2] Smoke and flames rise during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh
There was a conflict that escalated in Gaza in May 2021.
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday’s airstrikes in Gaza targeted an underground rocket manufacturing site and a military base used by Hamas.
‘Deeply concerned’
Months of violence in the West Bank, which surged after a spate of deadly attacks in Israel last year, have pushed an already unpredictable conflict out of control and sparked a wider conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. This raises concerns that it may cause
The recent season of violence began under previous coalition governments and continues after the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing government.
Following Thursday’s attacks, Palestinian authorities, which have limited their control over the West Bank, said they would suspend security cooperation agreements with Israel.
Denin refugee camp, packed with buildings and alleys, has been the center of militant activity and has been repeatedly targeted by Israeli raids, but residents said Thursday’s operation penetrated the camp unusually deep.
The two-story building at the center of the fighting was badly damaged, and nearby houses were blackened by smoke. In another area around the camp’s community center, cars were being crushed by Israeli bulldozers used in the operation.
The US State Department released a statement on Thursday saying it was “deeply concerned” by the violence in the West Bank and urged both sides to de-escalate the conflict.
Palestinian officials say the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar are also calling for calm.
CIA Director William Burns, who was visiting Israel and the West Bank on an arranged trip before the recent violence, will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, Palestinian officials said. US officials in Jerusalem were not immediately available for comment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power earlier this year as prime minister in one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, ordered security forces to be on alert but said Israel did not intend to escalate the situation.
Additional reporting by Ali Rabinovich and Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Ali Sawafta and Henriette Chakar in Jenin.Editing by Jerry Doyle and Edmund Blair
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