Israel eliminates second Islamic Jihad leader
Operation Dawn" continues and with it the attacks on the Gaza Strip. In a new episode of violence, the Israeli army has been bombing the Strip relentlessly, with one of its main targets being a network of tunnels that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organisation has been using to reach Israeli territory and carry out new offensives.
In one of these bombings, another Islamic Jihad leader was reportedly eliminated. He is the leader of the southern command of the armed wing of the PIJ in Gaza, Khaled Mansur. Mansur's death brings to two the number of jihadist leaders killed in the last 48 hours as a result of Israeli offensives in the framework of the anti-terrorist operation.
However, despite attempts to curb the terrorist threat in the area, at least 30 more people have been killed in the bombings, including six children, and hundreds of Palestinians have been wounded. For the moment, the bombardments and attacks from both the Israeli and Palestinian sides have not ceased and are expected to continue for at least another week, as Lapid's government has hinted.
On the other hand, throughout the morning, anti-aircraft alarms have continued to be heard in the Israeli areas bordering Gaza after the Palestinian group launched more than 400 rockets since the beginning of this new escalation of violence, which began last Friday. So far no deaths have been reported in Israel, although 21 people have been lightly wounded.
In view of this situation, the UN has warned that this latest escalation of violence could further worsen the serious humanitarian situation of Gaza's inhabitants. The humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Lynne Hastings, has called for a halt to the violence. "Hostilities must stop to prevent further civilian deaths and injuries in Gaza and Israel. All parties must respect the principles of international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality," she stressed.
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In this context, the Gaza power plant has already exhausted all its fuel, so that total power cuts have already begun throughout the territory. As a result, the population has only 4 hours of electricity per day and, to a very limited extent, access to the most basic services.
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She also questioned the functioning of basic infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, warehouses and shelters and stressed that "the mobility and access to Gaza of humanitarian personnel, for critical medical cases, and essential goods, including food and fuel, must not be impeded in order to meet humanitarian needs".
Alongside this, it has called on both the Israeli authorities and Palestinian groups to facilitate access to aid such as "the entry of fuel, food and medical supplies and the deployment of humanitarian personnel in accordance with international principles".
The start of this upsurge in violence began when Israel arrested one of the top leaders of Islamic Jihad on Monday. Since then, the terrorist group has threatened Israel with retaliation, and the Israeli army has begun to prepare for possible offensives by the group. Moreover, the Iranian Al-Quds forces, allies of the JIP and enemies of Israel, also rejected the arrest and threatened to carry out new offensives, which has raised and aggravated the tension in this conflict, which in the last few hours has claimed dozens of lives, in the face of the silence of world leaders.
