GAZA CITY: Calm returned to the Gaza Strip and nearby Israeli communities on Wednesday after the worst military flare-up since a 2014 war raised fears of yet another full-blown conflict in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave.
The exchange of fire on Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday began with a barrage of rocket and mortars into Israel from Gaza.
Israel said it targeted some 65 sites in the Gaza Strip. It also said around 100 rockets and mortars fired from Gaza either exploded in Israel or were intercepted by air defenses.
Three Israeli soldiers were wounded, one moderately and two lightly, the military said. There were no reports of casualties in Gaza.
Late Tuesday, an Islamic Jihad spokesman said a cease-fire had been reached, and on Wednesday senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya also spoke of an accord.
Though Israeli officials denied being part of a cease-fire, calm was maintained on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military had delivered the “harshest blow” in years to Gaza.
“Since yesterday, the army has responded forcefully to fire from the Gaza Strip with attacks against dozens of targets of terrorist organizations in the harshest blow that we have dealt them in years,” Netanyahu said at an event in Tel Aviv, according to his office.
Tuesday’s violence followed weeks of deadly unrest along the border between Israel and the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
In a rare joint statement, Hamas and Islamic Jihad declared shared responsibility for the rocket and mortar fire, saying it was in retaliation for Israeli attacks targeting their positions.
Three Islamic Jihad members were killed in an Israeli strike Sunday, and the group vowed revenge. Islamic Jihad is the second-largest armed group in Gaza after Hamas.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet later on Wednesday to discuss the violence, following a US request for an urgent meeting.
“The Security Council should be outraged and respond to this latest bout of violence directed at innocent Israeli civilians,” US ambassador Nikki Haley said.
Kuwait, a non-permanent council member representing Arab countries, circulated a draft resolution calling “for the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Early Tuesday, some 28 mortar shells were fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Israel said most were intercepted by its air defense systems but put residents in the area on high alert, ordering them to stay within 15 seconds of shelters.
One mortar shell exploded near a kindergarten building, a military spokesman said, damaging the structure. No children were present at the time.
Israel’s military began air strikes soon after.
Later in the day, further rockets and mortar rounds from Gaza were intercepted or exploded in Israel, the army said.
It said some of the mortars fired were supplied by Iran.
On Tuesday night, a rocket hit an Israeli home near the Gaza border, but no one was hurt, the military said.
Israel’s military said it hit “military targets” including a tunnel stretching into its territory, weapons stores and bases.
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that “what the resistance carried out this morning comes within the framework of the natural right to defend our people.”
The military flare-up followed weeks of deadly demonstrations and clashes along the Gaza-Israel border, beginning on March 30.
The protests demanded that Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation be allowed to return to their former homes, now inside Israel.
They peaked on May 14, when at least 61 Palestinians were killed in clashes as tens of thousands of Gazans protested the US transfer of its embassy in Israel to the disputed city of Jerusalem the same day.
Low-level demonstrations and clashes have continued since.
At least 122 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the unrest. No Israelis have been killed.
Israel says its actions are necessary to defend its borders, accusing Hamas of encouraging thousands of Palestinians to break through the border and attack Israelis.
But Israel has faced international criticism and calls for an independent investigation over its use of live fire during the protests and border clashes.
Calm returns after most severe Israel-Gaza flare-up in years
Calm returns after most severe Israel-Gaza flare-up in years
Some gaps have narrowed in elusive Gaza ceasefire deal, sides say
- Palestinian official familiar with the talks said some sticking points had been resolved
- But identity of some of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages yet to be agreed
A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.
His remarks corresponded with comments by the Israeli diaspora minister, Amichai Chikli, who said both issues were still being negotiated. Nonetheless, he said, the sides were far closer to reaching agreement than they have been for months.
“This ceasefire can last six months or it can last 10 years, it depends on the dynamics that will form on the ground,” Chikli told Israel’s Kan radio. Much hinged on what powers would be running and rehabilitating Gaza once fighting stopped, he said.
The duration of the ceasefire has been a fundamental sticking point throughout several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel wants an end to Hamas’ rule of Gaza first.
“The issue of ending the war completely hasn’t yet been resolved,” said the Palestinian official.
Israeli minister Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio that the aim was to find an agreed framework that would resolve that difference during a second stage of the ceasefire deal.
Chikli said the first stage would be a humanitarian phase that will last 42 days and include a hostage release.
HOSPITAL
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, medics said.
One of Gaza’s few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months, sought urgent help after being hit by Israeli fire.
“We are facing a continuous daily threat,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. “The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments, and the staff.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment. On Sunday it said it was supplying fuel and food to the hospital and helping evacuate some patients and staff to safer areas.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Israel says its operation around the three communities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia — is targeting Hamas militants.
On Monday, the United Nations’ aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said Israeli forces had hampered efforts to deliver much needed aid in northern Gaza.
“North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the specter of famine,” he said. “South Gaza is extremely overcrowded, creating horrific living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter sets in.”
Palestinians in Jenin observe a general strike
- The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank
JENIN: Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there.
Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall
DUBAI: Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs arrived in Damascus on Monday on the first Qatar Airways flight to the Syrian capital since the fall of President Bashar Assad two weeks ago, Doha’s foreign ministry said.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Mohammed Al-Khulaifi was the most senior official of the Gulf Arab state to visit Syria since militants toppled the Assad family’s 54-year-long rule.
Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty
- Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus
TEHRAN: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.
Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers
- Foreign ministry spokesman: ‘We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria’
TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
