Crossfire between the West Bank and Gaza continues

The actual escalation of violence between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza continues to rise and extends to its second day. At dawn this Saturday there have been multiple exchanges of fire and the balance of victims since the operation of the Israeli Army began this Friday amounts to 13 dead Palestinians and more than 120 wounded, most of them Gazans. Among the deceased is the number two of the Islamic Jihad in the Strip.

A spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Hebrew country assured that they are prepared for a extensive operationwhich could last for “one week“, and admitted that at the moment there are no negotiations to end the violence, according to several local media. The Israeli Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, reinforced this hypothesis by assuring that his Army will inflict “serious damage” on the Islamic Jihad Palestine in order to “restore peace” in the region and urged the population to “stay strong and stay united.” Israel considers the YIP one of the iran satellitescountry seen as the Jewish state as an existential threat.

fire exchange

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported this Saturday the death of three Palestinians, in addition to the 10 registered on Friday. In addition, the number of wounded reaches 114 in the Strip. The emergency services in Israel, meanwhile, added that at least eight people had to be hospitalized for injuries sustained while running to bomb shelters, while two soldiers were slightly injured by a rocket hit near the border with the Gaza Strip. .

According to the Israeli Army, some 160 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards its territory during the night, especially towards the towns near the enclave, despite the current estimates after several more hours of launches point to at least 200 projectiles. The vast majority of these rockets were intercepted by air defense systems while the rest landed in unpopulated areas. In parallel, the Israel Air Force continued to attack Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Strip, both through drones and fighter planes, and hitting sites allegedly used for the manufacture of weapons and for the production and launch of rockets. According to their estimates, they hit more than 50 targets.

Among the 10 killed on Friday were at least four YIP members, including the group’s number two, Taysir al Jabari, and a five-year-old girl. During the night, moreover, a joint operation between the Israeli Army, the Border Police and the Internal Intelligence Service ended the arrest of 20 people in the West Bankof which 19 would belong to the Islamic Jihad.

power outages

The most affected by the operation is once again the population of Gaza, who in addition to the bombings will have to face power outages after the only power plant in the Strip announced this Saturday that it has been forced to close due to lack of gas. This situation is the result of the blockade imposed by Israel since last Tuesday, which closed its border crossings with the enclave for goods and people.

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The cut “will affect all public services and crucial facilities and will aggravate the humanitarian situation,” the Gaza electricity company said in a statement. Supply is expected to drop to just four hours of daylight a day. Blackouts are common in this territory; last week, the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Strip only had an average of 10 hours of electricity a day.

The actual voltage spike started Friday with a strong Israeli “pre-emptive” offensive on YIP targets in Gaza in the face of what the military described as an “imminent threat” of attack by the group in retaliation for the arrest on Monday of Bassem Saadi, one of the YIP’s leaders, during a raid in the West Bank.