GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israel’s air force hit Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza for a second day on Wednesday.
At least one Palestinian was killed in an airstrike east of Khan Yunis and several others were wounded, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Agricultural land close to the border areas in the strip was also hit.
The Israeli army claimed that its jets targeted a Palestinian cell preparing to fire missiles at Israeli towns.
Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets at Israeli towns following Israel’s assassination of three Islamic Jihad leaders 36 hours earlier.
On Tuesday, Israel killed three prominent members of the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement. Ten civilians, including the leaders’ wives, children and neighbors, were also killed.
The increased violence has added to Gazans’ daily suffering.
Rami Lubbad, 33, said: “I have been waiting for more than an hour to get some bread. We don’t know how long this situation will last.”
Gaza has been under an Israeli lockdown since Tuesday. With the Erez crossing closed, patients cannot reach hospitals in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel also closed the only commercial crossing, Kerem Shalom, halting the entry of fuel and goods.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that closure of the Erez crossing stopped 142 patients, most undergoing cancer treatment, from reaching hospitals in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“The occupation prevents patients from reaching specialized hospitals in violation of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, and deliberately deprives patients of their treatment rights,” it said in a statement.
“The occupation was not content with confiscating the diagnostic medical devices for more than 18 months and obstructing the entry of medicines. Today it completed the third aspect of its crime against the patients of the Gaza Strip.”
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control in mid-2007.
Palestine’s electricity provider said that power generation at Gaza’s only station had been cut because industrial fuel was unable to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The Gaza Strip has witnessed a string of military confrontations with Israel, including four wars since 2008 resulting thousands of casualties.
Mustafa Ibrahim, a political analyst, said: “Israel is seeking to impose a policy of assassinations again, and this is what Hamas and Islamic Jihad will not allow.
“Israel does not seek a long-term war in the Gaza Strip. They needed to deal a strong blow to Islamic Jihad to address Israel’s internal issues, but the scene remains open to all possibilities.”
