According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 29 people including six children have died and 253 have been injured since Friday in the enclave under Israeli blockade. A report contradicted by the Israeli authorities, who claim that Palestinian children were killed by a failed rocket attack from Islamic Jihad towards the Jewish state.
This is the worst confrontation between the Jewish state and armed organizations in Gaza since the May 2021 war, which left 260 dead on the Palestinian side, including fighters, and 14 dead in Israel, including a soldier.
The escalation continues this Sunday between Israel and the Islamic Jihad movement, which exchange fire. According to the Palestinian authorities, 29 people died, including six children, killed dead in these new clashes, which Israel contradicts.
BFMTV.com takes stock of the causes of this renewed violence.
• The arrest of an Islamic Jihad leader
It was the arrest of an Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank last Monday that led to this new cycle of violence. According to Israeli media, it is Bassam Saadi, an Islamic Jihad official in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Fearing reprisals, the Israeli authorities said they were launching an operation in Gaza, a micro-territory governed by the Islamist movement Hamas and where Islamic Jihad is well established.
On Tuesday, the Jewish state notably ordered the closure of several roads along the border with the Gaza Strip, “due to a direct threat and finally to prevent a possible attack against civilians”.
A few days later, on Friday, the Israeli army said it was carrying out strikes on the Gaza Strip, claiming to target Islamic Jihad, an Islamist organization considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union. A leader of the armed group, Commander Tayseer Al-Jabari was killed in one of these strikes, the organization announced in a statement on Friday.
On the same day, the Palestinian authorities reported an initial toll, saying that four people, including a child, had been killed in the Israeli strikes. For its part, Israel estimated that 15 people had died, assuring that this “preventive attack” was “not over”.
• The response of Islamic Jihad
In response, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad announced on Friday that it fired “more than 100 rockets” from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, a “first response” to Israeli strikes.
During the night from Friday to Saturday, the exchanges of fire continued between the Jewish State and the Islamic organization. A second report on the Palestinian side reported ten dead, “including a five-year-old girl”, and 79 injured.
In Israel, no casualties or damage were identified by the rocket fire, the army reported. It reported 70 projectiles fired from Gaza, eleven of which landed inside the Palestinian enclave under Israeli blockade.
• Israel expands its offensive
The Jewish state expanded its offensive on Saturday, arresting some 40 Islamic Jihad operatives in the West Bank in several raids. The Israeli army also said it had “neutralized” the main “military” leaders in Gaza of Islamic Jihad.
As the exchange of fire continues this Sunday, and the Islamic Jihad claims to have fired rockets at Jerusalem, a first since the start of the escalation, a new human toll has been communicated by the Palestinian authorities. The latter indicate that 29 people died, including six children, and 253 injured. A version contradicted by Israel, which assures that Palestinian children were killed on Saturday by a failed rocket attack from Islamic Jihad towards Israel.
• Egypt as mediator
The Israeli army has already announced on Saturday that it is preparing for “a week” of raids on the Gaza Strip, saying that “the battle is only at its beginning”. For the moment, no negotiation “with a view to a ceasefire” is envisaged.
According to several sources, Egypt, a historic intermediary between Israel and the armed groups in Gaza, is trying to mediate to calm tensions.
Source: BFM TV
