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Palestinian terrorists fired a missile into southern Israel on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a cease-fire ended a five-day fight that killed 33 Palestinians and two Israelis.
Before Sunday’s launch, which the IDF said landed in an open area of southern Israel, the cease-fire had held. No Israeli response or claim of culpability followed.
The Egyptian-brokered truce was tested by the launch.
In response to Gaza rocket launches, Israeli jets killed three Islamic Jihad commanders on Tuesday, sparking the latest Gaza combat. After those executions, militants opened fire, threatening to start another conflict until Egypt negotiated a cease-fire late Saturday.
While the calm appeared to bring relief to Gaza’s 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled multiple rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza, neighbors saw gaping holes in buildings that Israel claimed were hideouts for the six top Islamic Jihad militants killed in this round. Gaza’s main cargo crossing with Israel reopened Sunday despite concerns that closing it would shut down Gaza’s lone power plant, worsening the electricity crisis.
Southern Israel, which took the most rocket fire, was gradually easing restrictions.
Israeli officials said the current battle killed at least six Islamic Jihad leaders in precision attacks based on reliable intelligence. At least 13 Gaza residents were murdered, including children as young as 4 and mothers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned targeted attacks on extremist hideouts would echo across the area.
He warned his Cabinet that Israel’s opponents in Gaza and elsewhere know that even if they hide, he can reach them at any time.
Rights groups have criticized Israel over civilian losses in Gaza bombardments. Israel claims militants fire rockets into Israeli communities from densely populated areas and does its best to avoid civilian casualties.
Some strikes were accurate, but others destroyed Palestinian civilian dwellings.
“Let them target a house alone. Why demolish the neighborhood? Why?” stated Mai Sarson, whose Deir el-Balah home was destroyed by an Israeli strike.
Israel’s repeated airstrikes on Islamic Jihad’s command centers and rocket-launching locations failed to stop the rocket fire, prompting Islamic Jihad to declare victory and send Palestinians cheering into the streets late Saturday.
During the conflict, the Israeli forces launched approximately 1,400 missiles, some reaching Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. According to a preliminary military calculation, Israeli jets hit more than 400 targets and around a fifth of the rockets misfired and fell in Gaza, while most were intercepted or landed in open regions.
Rockets killed an 80-year-old grandmother and a Palestinian laborer in Israel. Errant rockets killed three Gazans, including two children, according to a Palestinian human rights group.
Since 2007, Israel has fought Palestinian militants in Gaza. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several minor conflicts.
The more powerful Hamas welcomed Islamic Jihad’s strikes but stayed out of the latest combat, restricting the confrontation. Hamas, the de facto authority responsible for the appalling conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, has tried to keep its fight with Israel under wraps. However, Islamic Jihad, a more ideological and violent militant group, has led recent conflict with Israel.
Saturday’s settlement did not address many of the causes of the periodic violence, including Israel’s blockade of Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s enormous arsenals, and Israeli policy in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.
After more than a year of conflict in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have conducted near-nightly arrest operations and Palestinians have attacked, Gaza violence erupted. Nationalist Israelis’ annual march through Jerusalem’s Old City, which Palestinians consider as provocative, could raise tensions again this week.
In 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza. Palestinians want all three for a state. After Israel left Gaza in 2005, Hamas took authority and evicted PA forces.
Israel and Egypt embargo Gaza to stop Hamas from arming. Palestinians and international rights groups call the Gaza blockade collective punishment.