Israel launches further strikes on Gaza as truce efforts continue

Violence intensified between Israel and Gaza as Israel’s military launched additional strikes on Friday, in response to rockets fired by militants on the fourth day of conflict. The fighting has resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, as well as one Israeli civilian reports Bangkok Post.

Egypt’s ongoing efforts to lead truce negotiations offer some hope, as initial talks failed earlier this week. Residents in southern Rafah reported witnessing three air strikes on Friday, whilst Israeli military officials stated that they had targeted “military posts and hidden rocket launchers” belonging to the Islamic Jihad militant group.

During Thursday evening, multiple rocket attacks from militants in the crowded Gaza Strip were directed towards Israel. A civilian in Rehovot, a central city, was killed as a result. According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 31 Palestinians have lost their lives, including top militants, civilians, and children.

As daily life comes nearly to a halt in the coastal territory governed by the Hamas militant group, Israelis residing near Gaza have been urged to stay close to bomb shelters. With cautious optimism, an Islamic Jihad source revealed that a ceasefire proposal developed by Cairo has been shared with the group’s leadership.

A key condition for a ceasefire, according to another source within Islamic Jihad, is that “Israel must commit to stopping the assassinations in Gaza and the West Bank.” This renewed violence erupted on Tuesday as three senior members of the Islamic Jihad group were killed by Israeli forces, and subsequent strikes took the lives of two other prominent figures.

Over 90 people in Gaza have been injured, while Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services treated five individuals for shrapnel, glass, or blast-related injuries resulting from the rocket attacks.

Both the European Union and the United States have called for an “immediate comprehensive ceasefire” and a reduction in violence, respectively. Islamic Jihad and Hamas have been designated as terror organizations by both the EU and the US.

The Israeli military has targeted 170 Islamic Jihad sites this week, while roughly 866 rockets have been launched from Gaza. Israel claims that a quarter of these rockets fell within Gaza itself, leading to four deaths, including three children. Neither Islamic Jihad nor Hamas have commented on this allegation when contacted by AFP.

The current conflict is the most severe since August when 49 Gazans were killed during three days of fighting between Islamic Jihad and Israel. At that time, the United Nations reported that at least 19 of the deaths were children, while three individuals in Israel were wounded by rocket fire.

The ongoing violence follows several wars between Israel and Hamas since the latter gained control of Gaza in 2007. As a result, an Israeli blockade has caused extreme poverty and unemployment, preventing the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from leaving the territory.