Middle East: Hundreds of rockets fired at Israel – danger of war growing – politics

Militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired more than 200 rockets into Israeli territory on Wednesday, according to the military. In total there were around 270 kills, 205 of which crossed the border into Israel, the military said in the early evening. A total of 63 missiles were intercepted. The rest landed in an open area, and there were also three impacts in urban areas. Sirens also wailed in central Israel in the afternoon.

The shelling continued into the evening. The sirens also wailed in the greater Tel Aviv area. It was the first missile alert of this kind in central Israel since August last year. According to media reports, Egypt, Qatar and the UN were already trying to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and the parties in the Gaza Strip in the evening.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened an intensification of the current attacks in the Gaza Strip. “We are prepared for the possibility of an expansion of the operation and heavy strikes against Gaza,” he told council leaders in the south of the country, according to his office.

According to Israeli paramedics, two women in Israel were slightly injured on their way to shelters. An unoccupied house in the town of Sderot was also reported to have been hit by a rocket. Explosions were heard in several Israeli cities. These were probably triggered by the Israeli missile defense system Iron Dome. Clouds of smoke could be seen in the sky in pictures on social networks. According to media reports, traffic at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv was briefly interrupted. Planes attempting to land were ordered to circle out of range of the missiles for a few minutes, according to the news site ynet reported.

Israel’s air force had previously attacked several targets of the militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian security sources said military installations and Islamic Jihad facilities had been hit. At least five Palestinians were killed in the attacks, including a 14-year-old, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Around 20 people were injured.

According to the Israeli military, the attacks were aimed at “weapons launch infrastructure”. In addition, extremists who were near a rocket launch pad are said to have been attacked. According to reports from the Gaza Strip, one of the dead was a field worker nearby. An Israeli military spokesman said the reports were being looked into.

The Israeli air force killed three senior members of Islamic Jihad on Tuesday night. A total of 13 people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes in the coastal strip, including several women and children. Two members of a militant Palestinian group were also killed in an Israeli attack on a car in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. According to the army, they are said to have transported anti-tank missiles.

Several groups in the Gaza Strip announced retaliation. The Israeli army justified the military strike with several attacks from the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. Most recently, Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory following the death of a Palestinian prisoner last week.

According to experts, whether the Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, is involved in launching the rockets plays a decisive role in the course of the conflict. This was initially unclear. Israel has repeatedly killed jihadi leaders in the Gaza Strip in the past. In August last year, military chief Chalid Mansur and two other members were killed in an Israeli air raid. At that time there were massive rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory and further Israeli airstrikes. After three days, an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect.

More than two million people live in the Gaza Strip in very poor conditions. Hamas violently seized power in the Palestinian Territory in 2007. Israel then tightened a blockade of the coastal area, which is supported by Egypt.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are classified as terrorist organizations by the US, EU and Israel. Both groups have taken up the cause of the destruction of Israel. However, Islamic Jihad is considered even more radical than Hamas. According to the CIA World Factbook, the number of jihadi fighters is estimated at between 1,000 and several thousand. Hamas is considered to be much stronger militarily, with the number of fighters estimated at 25,000. Unlike Hamas, Islamic Jihad has no interest in participating in the government, instead focusing on armed resistance to Israel.

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