GAZA CITY: Israeli warplanes on Thursday bombed two sites belonging to the military wing of Hamas.
No casualties were reported in the morning strikes that came in response to the firing hours earlier of six rockets from Gaza toward Israeli towns, according to an Israel army statement.
The rockets targeting the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome air defense missile system. No Palestinian faction has yet claimed responsibility for the rockets attack.
Tensions had increased in Gaza after Wednesday’s killing of at least 11 Palestinians in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
The Ministry of Education announced the closure of schools as a strike continued in parts of Gaza. Banks operating in Palestine shut in mourning for the Palestinian deaths.
In some border areas, groups of young men demonstrated and set fire to tires in protest against a second day of Israeli operations in Nablus.
Palestinian Mahmoud Wishah, 43, said: “What is happening in the West Bank cannot be tolerated.” He added that the Israelis only understood force and that Palestinians had no choice but to fight back.
Gaza has witnessed four wars since Hamas took control of the area in mid-2007 and endless flare-ups, the last being in the summer of 2022.
Another Palestinian, Raed Suisi, 33, said: “We are one people and one homeland. What hurts Nablus hurts us. We in Gaza have suffered a lot. We do not need a new war. We do not want to see more bloodshed and destroyed houses. There must be a way to intervene without reaching an all-out war.”
Lina Dukhan, 26, said: “The infrastructure is dilapidated, and a new war would only bring more blood and destruction. We Palestinians have been suffering for decades, and in Gaza we have witnessed many wars and thousands of martyrs.
“We are suffering from the blockade, lack of job opportunities, and loss of hope among the youth. We need to build Gaza again, so that it can resist. If there is war every year, one day, Gaza will be like a cemetery,” she added.
UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said he was continuing his engagement with all concerned parties in a bid to de-escalate the situation.
In a statement, he said: “I urge all sides to refrain from steps that could further inflame an already volatile situation.”
Wennesland arrived in Gaza on Thursday morning in a hurried attempt to mediate with all sides.
Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades military wing said patience with Israel was running out.
Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhala, residing in Lebanon, said: “What happened in Nablus is a major crime committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people, and therefore it is our duty as resistance forces to respond to this crime without hesitation.”
Egypt has tried to keep Gaza out of the ongoing escalation in the West Bank during separate rounds of talks with Islamic Jihad and Hamas over the past few years.