Smoke from an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Photograph from Noor Y. Robeen
An Israeli military drone strike killed Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, the Hamas military chief, in his car in Gaza City on Wednesday. Israel claims Jabari was responsible for all attacks from Gaza in the past decade.
In response to the attack, Hamas warned that Israel had opened the “gates of hell” and militants have responded by firing more than 130 rockets into Israel. These rockets have so far killed three Israelis who died when a four-storey building in the town of Kiryat Malachi was hit. Three other people – a four-year-old boy and two babies – were injured in the attack according to Israel’s foreign ministry
Amid escalating violence Israel has also been attacking locations within Gaza from air, land, and sea with eleven Palestinians killed – these include militants but also civilians, children, and one 11-month old baby.
Reporters and observers on the ground are reporting being able to see vapour trails from rockets being fired by Palestinian militants, as well as large clouds of smoke appearing from Israeli air strikes.
Hamas claims that it has fired missiles at Tel Aviv, but at nearly 70km from the border of the Gaza Strip, this is notably further than the majority of Palestinian rocket attacks which tend to be at a distance of around 25-40km.
The violence in this latest episode does not appear to be on the same scale as the Gaza war four years ago in which hundreds of Palestinians and thirteen Israelis lost their lives. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that his country is prepared to extend its operation against Hamas, with Israeli military spokesman Joshua Hantman adding that a ground offensive was “an option if we need to”.
Large crowds gathered in Gaza today for the funeral of 52-year-old Jabari, vowing revenge attacks, but Israeli sources have said that if the rockets do not stop, Israel will also target elected Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The international reaction to the strikes has been mixed, with Egypt, which borders both Gaza and Israel, condeming the strikes, recalling its ambassador to Israel, summoning the Israeli ambassador in Cairo, and calling meetings of the UN and Arab League. There have been Palestinian solidarity marches across the Muslim world, from Cairo to Istanbul to Bosnia. The US, in contrast, has defended Israel’s actions and described Hamas as a “terrorist organisation”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke to Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, expressing concern at the “deteriorating situation”
In a statement, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said
I am gravely concerned by the situation in Gaza and southern Israel and deeply regret the loss of civilian life on both sides. I call on all those involved to avoid any action which risks civilian casualties or escalates the crisis.
Hamas bears principal responsibility for the current crisis. I utterly condemn rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel by Hamas and other armed groups. This creates an intolerable situation for Israeli civilians in southern Israel, who have the right to live without fear of attack from Gaza. The rocket attacks also risk worsening the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which is already precarious.
Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza should cease attacks against Israel immediately. I call on those in the region with influence over Hamas to use that influence to bring about an end to the attacks.
I also strongly urge Israel to do their utmost to reduce tension, avoid civilian casualties and increase the prospects for both sides to live in peace. It is imperative to avoid the risk of a spiral of violence. The escalation of the conflict would be in no one’s interest, particularly at a time of instability in the region.
These events underline once again the fragility of the situation and the urgent need for progress toward a two state solution which allows Israelis and Palestinians to live alongside each other in peace and security. Britain will do all it can to support such progress and an urgent resumptions of negotiations.
