Violence is escalating again in the Middle East. Israel came under heavy fire from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon. Rockets were fired by Islamic Jihad fighters not only at cities in the immediate border area, but also at Tel Aviv in the center of the country. This is generally regarded as a declaration of war. According to the army were more than 470 missiles fired at Israel until late evening. Buildings and cars were hit and damaged in the south of the country.
The Iran-funded militia responded with a vengeance to Israeli airstrikes the day before, which killed three senior commanders and at least ten other people, including women and children. Israel’s army, which has dubbed the military operation “Shield and Arrow,” continued to bomb Islamic Jihad facilities in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The rocket fire had been expected in Israel. Around one million residents within a 40-kilometer radius of the Gaza Strip had already been asked to stay near a bomb shelter at all times. School was canceled for 300,000 children. The government has prepared the population with pithy tones for a possibly lengthy military conflict.
“Nobody should doubt Israel’s determination to defend its citizens,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently under a lot of domestic pressure. On Wednesday he received opposition leader Jair Lapid, who had already pledged his support for military action in the Gaza Strip, at his official residence in Jerusalem.
Tension is high in the West Bank, seen here at a funeral for two Islamic Jihad men in Jenin
(PHOTO: RANEEN SAWAFTA/REUTERS)
From an Israeli perspective, whether the current conflict will grow into a longer war over Gaza, like the one last seen in 2021, depends primarily on the behavior of Hamas. Israel’s arch-enemies, who have ruled the narrow coastal strip since 2007 and have been involved in four wars since then, are receiving unusual signals from Israel asking them to exercise restraint.
“Operation ‘Shield and Arrow’ is aimed solely against Islamic Jihad,” said a spokesman for the Israeli army in a zoom switch with journalists on Wednesday afternoon. “Israel is not interested in a war.” At first he didn’t want to attach much importance to statements by various Hamas leaders who have threatened Israel with revenge and who speak of a “united front” between the militant groups. “We distinguish between declarations and actions and we only act on actions,” he said. At least in the first round of rocket fire on Wednesday, Hamas was not involved.
Unlike the comparatively small Islamic Jihad, which is estimated to have a few thousand fighters in the Gaza Strip and an arsenal of rockets that is not too extensive, Hamas cannot devote itself solely to the fight against Israel, but must also ensure stability in its dominion. A war with far-reaching destruction would further impoverish the more than two million inhabitants. At the same time, however, Hamas leaders are under pressure not to appear cowardly or soft on Israel compared to competing militant groups.
The Israeli leadership is also concerned about the traces of the current conflict that point to Tehran. “Islamic Jihad’s missiles are homemade, but the money and the ideology behind them come from Iran,” said the army spokesman. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that Iran was “responsible for 95 percent of all Israeli security problems”. Tehran is trying to organize “a campaign against Israel on many fronts”.
There was a bitter foretaste of this on the Passover holiday in April, when Israel suddenly came under fire on three fronts: from the Gaza Strip to the south and from Lebanon and Syria to the north. After the heavy rocket fire on Wednesday afternoon, Netanyahu spoke to the heads of the regional authorities in the north and assured them: “We are prepared for the possibility of an extended campaign.”
In the first few hours alone, almost 300 rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. One hit a vacant house in Sderot, one damaged the roof of a kindergarten. Most of the dangerous projectiles were intercepted by the “Iron Dome” defense system. The dull bang of hits high in the sky could be heard again and again in Tel Aviv. At least 20 dead have been reported from Gaza so far. Regarding the progress of the confrontation, the Israeli army spokesman said: “The ball is now in the Gaza Strip.”