Israel conducts series of attacks on Palestine
2023.01.27 08:46
Israel conducts series of attacks on Palestine
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – In response to two rockets fired by Palestinian militants, Israeli jets struck Gaza overnight on Friday, further escalating tensions following one of the worst days of violence in the occupied West Bank in years.
Israeli communities near the border with the southern coastal strip controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas were alarmed by the overnight rocket fire from Gaza, but no casualties were reported.
The Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday resulted in the deaths of at least nine Palestinians, including militant gunmen and at least two civilians—the highest single-day death toll in years—and the cross-border fire followed.
At least 30 Palestinians have died so far in 2023, with another man dying in a separate incident outside of Jerusalem in al-Ramm.
Days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to visit Israel and the West Bank, the raid was the latest in a year’s worth of near-daily clashes in the West Bank.
According to Palestinian officials, CIA director William Burns would meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday. Burns was on a planned trip to Israel and the West Bank prior to the latest violence. American officials in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
There are concerns that the already unpredictable conflict could escalate into a larger conflict between Palestinians and Israel as a result of the increased violence over the past few months, which followed a string of deadly attacks in Israel last year.
The United States State Department urged both sides to deescalate the conflict in a statement on Thursday, expressing its “deeply concerned” about the violence in the West Bank.
Palestinian officials stated that Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations have also urged calm.
Residents of Gaza who had grown accustomed to years of rocket and airstrike exchanges between Israel and Hamas feared further clashes, so large rallies were scheduled for the afternoon after Friday prayers.
Abdallah Al-Husary, 50, stated, “We didn’t sleep the whole night, bombing and missiles.” There is anxiety and fear, and a war could break out at any time. There may be war in Gaza along the border if there is a conflict in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority, which has limited governing powers in the West Bank, announced that it was suspending a security cooperation agreement with Israel after the raid on Thursday. This agreement is widely credited with helping to maintain order in the territory and preventing attacks on Israel.
Even though he ordered security forces to be on alert, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power this year as the leader of one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, stated that Israel was not intending to escalate the situation.
According to the Israeli Defense Force, Friday’s air strikes in Gaza targeted a Hamas military base and an underground rocket manufacturing facility.
