May 3, 2024
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Friday, further escalating the most violent confrontation in months between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip despite efforts to broker a cease-fire.
The burst of rocket fire from Gaza sent warning sirens wailing as far north as the contested capital of Jerusalem — about 48 miles from the Gaza border — breaking a 12-hour lull that had raised hopes that regional powers could soon broker a truce.
There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side Friday. The fighting, which started on Tuesday, between Israel and Islamic Jihad — the second-largest militant group in Gaza after the territory’s Hamas rulers — has killed 31 Palestinians in the strip and a 70-year-old man in central Israel.
A rocket slammed into an open field in the Israeli south Jerusalem settlement of Bat Ayin, said Josh Hasten, a spokesperson for the area. Dull thuds could be heard inside the city, home to major sites holy to Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Videos showed Israelis jumping out of their cars and crouching beneath highway rails as the sirens sounded. Residents in nearby Israeli settlements reported hearing explosions and seeing black smoke rising from the hills after an apparent missile interception.
“The bombing of Jerusalem sends a message,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement. “What is happening in Jerusalem is not separate from Gaza.”
In response, the Israeli military said its warplanes struck four Islamic Jihad military posts and a mortar shell launcher across the Gaza Strip. Residents reported the strikes hit targets in open areas.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was conducting a security assessment to mount a further response. “We continue,” he tweeted.
The Israeli military urged residents living within 25 miles of the Gaza boundary to remain close to bomb shelters and limit public gatherings until Saturday evening.
Since Tuesday, Israeli strikes have killed five senior Islamic Jihad figures and hit at least 215 targets in Gaza, including rocket and mortar launch sites and militants preparing to use them. Islamic Jihad has retaliated with nearly 900 rockets fired toward densely populated parts of Israel.
At least 31 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in the fighting, including six children and four women, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. At least two of the children were killed by suspected misfired Palestinian rockets, according to the Israeli military and the Palestinian Center for Rights. More than 90 Palestinians have been wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.
Hamas, the de facto civilian government with an army of some 30,000 in Gaza, has sought to maintain its truce with Israel. Meanwhile, Israel has limited its airstrikes to Islamic Jihad targets.
Both sides had seemed on the brink of a cease-fire earlier this week. Hamas officials told local media on Friday that Egypt was ramping up its diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. But Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Israeli officials had pulled out of the talks in Egypt after Islamic Jihad unleashed rockets toward Jerusalem. Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the reports.
Meanwhile Islamic Jihad figures have sent mixed signals about the negotiations. Senior official Ihsan Attaya complained early Friday that the mediators “have been unable to provide us with any guarantees.” A sticking point has been Islamic Jihad’s demands that Israel cease its policy of targeted killings, Attaya said.
In Cairo, Islamic Jihad political bureau member Mohamad al-Hindi was trying to hash out the details of a possible truce. He told Palestinian media that he hoped both sides “would reach a cease-fire agreement and honor it today.” But the continuing exchange of fire hours later seemed to undermine his optimism.
