After the start of a preemptive Israeli military operation against the Islamic Jihad militant group on Saturday, more than a year of relative calm has come to an end. Israeli warplanes have carried out raids inside Gaza, while Palestinian armed groups have fired rockets at Israel, with tensions still unabated.
On Friday, Israel launched an operation against the Islamic Jihad group, which resulted in the death of one of the group’s senior commanders after a surprise air strike on a high-rise building in Gaza City. The decision by Hamas, which effectively rules Gaza, whether or not to join the conflict in favor of Islamic Jihad will have a major impact on whether or not the conflict escalates further. According to a Palestinian official familiar with the situation who spoke to REUTERS, Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar are seeking to mediate an end to the violence.
However, no progress has been made in these efforts so far. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli attacks resulted in the deaths of 11 Palestinians, including at least four more Islamic Jihad fighters, a child, and injured at least 80 people.
Islamic Jihad did not release information on the number of its members who had been killed. According to Israeli military reports, Palestinians have fired at least 160 rockets at Israel.
These rockets were aimed at cities near Tel Aviv. The majority of the missiles were successfully intercepted, however a small number of civilians suffered minor injuries while trying to take shelter.
