The Gaza Strip is on the cusp of a new Israeli military intervention.
?INITIAL REPORT: Sirens sounded in the city of Be’er Sheva. Details to follow. ? pic.twitter.com/m4FqeTEd46
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018
In the early hours of October 17th, a rocket launched from Gaza and hit and heavily damaged a house in the Southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva. Haaretz reported that another rocket landed in the sea near one of the major cities in Israel’s largest metropolitan area. There were no casualties or injuries.
The site of a #rocket strike from #Gaza which landed in a residential area of Beersheba, #Israel. Iron Dome isn't totally impenetrable. pic.twitter.com/vUBkXJqwep
— Emanuel Miller (@emanumiller) October 17, 2018
Sirens wail across Beersheva as Red Alert is activated for an incoming rocket from #Gaza. #Israel pic.twitter.com/1NlCp2YIHq
— Joe (@Jtruzmah) October 17, 2018
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that they struck 20 targets in Gaza in response, including a Hamas attack tunnel in the southern Strip, as well as Hamas military bases and a rocket manufacturing site.
The IDF also released footage of striking a group that was attempting to launch a rocket into Israel.
?Sirens sounded in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. Details to follow. pic.twitter.com/lhODoYIe0K
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018
IDF Spokesman Ronen Manelis said the military holds Hamas responsible for the rocket launches. “Hamas is harming the prospects for an arrangement [on long-term calm] and easing [the situation] in Gaza, which mainly harms the residents of Gaza,” he said.
Currently the Israeli military gives an assessment that if launches from Gaza stop there will be a calming of the situation.
The strikes were carried out by Israeli fighter jets and left one 25-year-old male Palestinian dead and eight injured. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry Naji Ahmad al-Zaneen was killed in the attack on northern Gaza.
Al Jazeera cited Palestinian sources which said that several rockets fired by Israeli warplanes targeted sites south of Gaza City, while another blast rocked the central region of the Gaza Strip. A powerful explosion also rocked Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Following the incident, IDF’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot cancelled his short visit to the US, a planned security cabinet meeting was also cancelled.
At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to call a meeting to assess the situation with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the IDF’s deputy chief of staff, the head of the national security council, the chief of the Shin Bet and other senior defense officials.
Lieberman immediately ordered a closing of the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings into Gaza and a reduction in the permitted fishing zone off the coast of the city. According to him, the security cabinet should order a military blow against the Islamist group “even at a price of moving to a wide-scale confrontation.”
This all follows Israeli’s hawkish defense minister Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among other top officials declaring that Israel will soon consider a large-scale military operation in Gaza. Lieberman said that there can only be peace after Israel delivers a “heavy devastating blow” to Hamas.
After the escalation began, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a statement distancing their groups from the rocket launches. “We welcome the Egyptian effort to fulfill the Palestinian people’s demand to remove the [Israeli] siege, and reject any irresponsible attempts meant to incite and sabotage the effort,” the statement read. They also added that they “will always be ready to deal with Israeli aggression,” given they have the support of the Palestinian people.
These rockets are the first since early August that have been launched out of Gaza.
Despite Hamas denying any involvement, Israeli media and the hawkish voices in the Israeli top brass are gaining momentum.
The question, however, stands. If Hamas is telling the truth and did not shoot the rockets at Israel, then who is responsible for the incident? An incident that could quite possibly lead to a large-scale intervention in Gaza.
