After a nightly Israeli bombardment that targeted several sites, cautious calm returned to Gaza. Israeli reconnaissance planes flew over the Strip.
Al-Arabiya / Al-Hadath correspondent reported today, Friday, that the densely populated sector is witnessing a cautious calm, after Israeli shells fell in several locations, and raids targeted centers of the Islamic Jihad movement.
While the Israeli army announced in a statement that it continued, at night, to bomb “military installations belonging to the Islamic Jihad” in the Palestinian sector.
He announced that since May 9, the movement had launched 866 missiles at Israel, 260 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.
The Israeli army bombed 215 targets in the Strip.
truce within 48 hours
Simultaneously, Egyptian mediation is continuing in order to push the movement and the Israeli forces to calm down, after a security delegation arrived from Cairo to Tel Aviv yesterday, and a delegation from Jihad to Egypt.
While Al-Arabiya / Al-Hadath sources indicated that Egypt is working to reach a truce within 48 hours.
And Israel returned and rose yesterday despite that mediation by assassinating the leader of the Al-Quds Brigades, (the armed wing of the movement), Ahmed Abu Daqqa.
Gaza (AFP)
In turn, the movement launched new missile salvoes, prompting Egypt to announce that the mediation had not yielded results so far, warning of the consequences of continued escalation.
From Khadr to assassinations
It is noteworthy that the latest round of escalation began between the two sides on May 2, following the killing of prisoner Adnan Khader in Israeli prisons, after 3 months of hunger strike, and Israel’s refusal to hand over his body to his family.
This prompted the factions to launch dozens of rockets towards the Palestinian territories.
Then came another round of escalation, on May 9, with the Israeli forces assassinating several leaders of the Islamic Jihad, and then the one in charge of the missile unit, Ali Ghali, and Abu Daqqa yesterday.
While the movement stipulated stopping the assassinations and handing over Khader’s body for the sake of a cease-fire, Tel Aviv refused, stressing that it adheres to the cease-fire in exchange for a cease-fire.
It is noteworthy that the Strip has been witnessing intermittent rounds of escalation between the two sides for months, even years, while the last round of fighting claimed the lives of about 30 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
