The capture of Bassen a-Saadileader of the Islamic Jihad Palestinian, sparked new violence between Israel and local terrorist organizations. The Jewish state announced the launch of a new one military operation in Gaza Stripeight years after the bloody Protection margin unleashed against Hamas which caused over 2,200 dead, mostly civilians. Today the army of Tel Aviv renamed the new offensive “Breaking Dawn”The dawn that breaks, and is hitting targets in the battered tongue of land nestled between Israel and theEgypt. A new escalation of violence, at least according to the statements of the leaders of the organization, now seems inevitable: “The enemy has launched a war against our people. We all have to defend ourselves. We will not allow the enemy to continue his systematic attempts to strike at the armed resistance ”. And they threaten the capital: “There are no red lines in this war and Tel Aviv will end up under the blows of the resistancein the next few hours we will prove it “, said the secretary general of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Al-Nakhala. “We are heading for a war and we ask God to be successful. After this raid there will be no respite“. Sources of the group let it be known that Egypt, which has offered itself as a mediator, will start its activity on Sunday, indirectly opening to two days of fighting.
Also Hamas thunders against Israel and its spokesman Fawzi Barhoum he promises that “the blood of our people and the mujahideen will not be shed in vain. Israeli soldiers and settlers will be hit from the Palestinian resistance, the Israeli occupation, which initiated an escalation against Gaza and committed a new crime, will pay the price and take full responsibility for it. We have a united resistance on the ground that cannot accept Palestinian bloodshed ”. Firm condemnation also comes fromPalestinian National Authority for “the Israeli aggression against the people in the Gaza Strip”, declared the president Abu MazenMore calling for an “immediate end” to the offensive and for the international community to “force Israel to stop the aggression”.
Israeli military spokesmen let it be known that among the various objectives achieved by the raids there is also an apartment a Bourgeois Palestine located in a ten-story building consisting mainly of offices and located in the center of Gaza City. According to the Tel Aviv security forces, one was hiding inside safe house of the terrorist organization that hosted some members. Aviation also hit a target a Khan Yunesin the south of the Strip, while an Islamic Jihad post was hit in Beit Kahyain the north.
The extent of the damage is still unclear, while it is there at least 10 dead and 55 woundedincluding also a 5 year old girlaccording to the local health ministry which proclaimed it state of emergency. Among those killed, according to the media, there are Taysir Jabaricommander of Islamic Jihad in the north of the Strip, e Salam Abed, also from Jihad. There is also talk of other militiamen wounded in Khan Yunes. Jabari was accused by the Israeli Defense Forces of organizing “plans for attacks with anti-tank missiles against Israeli citizens and soldiers ”. According to Israel, the death toll is much higher, with 10-20 Palestinian terrorists killed. Israel has already protected itself also from a defensive point of view, fearing the group’s response, and has deployed anti-missile batteries Iron Dome covering a buffer zone 80 kilometers deep along the border with Gaza. Moreover, in the Jewish state it was raised the alert levelthe army got the go-ahead from the government to call back 25 thousand reservists and it was air traffic diverted northwards in and out of the international airport Ben Gurion.
The Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantztry to justify this new military operation which risks causing a new one carnage in one of the most densely populated areas in the world, arguing that “the situation in southern Israel is tense. We do not seek conflict, but we will not hesitate to defend our citizens if necessary. To our enemies, especially the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, I mean time is up. This threat will be removed, one way or another“. The new prime minister, Yair Lapid, on the other hand, he stated that “the army just hit Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. This is an operation to remove a concrete threat to Israeli citizens and in areas close to Gaza. The government of Israel will not allow terrorists to threaten citizens. Anyone who tries to hit us know that we will reach him ”.
Meanwhile, thousands of people have participated in the funeral by Jabari. His body was transferred from the Shifa hospital to al-Amari mosque – in the old city of Gaza – and then in the ward of Sajaya where he lived and where he was buried. Among the crowd stood the leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad. Unmanned planes of the Israeli military aviation could be seen in the sky. “Our reaction will not be long in coming,” said the leaders of the organization during the funeral.
The escalation on the border between Israel and Gaza originates after what happened four days ago when Bassen a-Saadi was captured. The military wing of the organization has decreed a state of maximum alert among the militiamen and has threatened attacks. Israel particularly fears anti-tank rocket launches from Gaza against Israeli vehicles in transit on the edge of the Strip and closed several arteries and a section of the railway to traffic. As always happens during the Israeli operations in the Strip, Gantz accused Hamas and Islamic Jihad of “Hold hostage” the local population and to be the cause of his suffering for the prolonged closure of the crossings between Gaza and Israel, however, decided by the Jewish state. Egypt, as has happened in the past, tries to mediate between the parties, while a representative of the United Nationsaccording to media reports, he also visited a-Saadi’s family to reassure them about the health of his relative after news of his being injured during his capture spread.
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