Jerusalem/Gaza (EFE).- Israeli aviation bombed again this Wednesday military installations belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (YIP) in the south of the Gaza Strip, causing at least one death and one critical injury
This is the second attack in less than 24 after yesterday, in another air operation over the strip, 15 people died, including the 3 main leaders of this group in the enclave.
“A short time ago, an Israeli Army plane targeted terrorist agents who were moving to an Islamic Jihad rocket launch site in the city of Khan Yunis,” said a military spokesman, who assured that “they will continue to operate to preserve the safety of Israeli civilians.”
Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that several simultaneous airstrikes took place on four different military installations belonging to the JIP in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, in the south of the strip.
The European Hospital in Khan Younis confirmed the death of one person and two wounded, one in critical condition, after a shelling in the nearby village of Al Garara.
For its part, the YIP has confirmed that the dead man was one of its militiamen, although eyewitnesses suggest that both the deceased and the wounded were peasants who were working in that village near the site of the bombings.
Waiting for the response of the Jihad
Since yesterday the number of deaths in the strip rises to 16: the 3 YIP leaders and 10 civilians in the bombings at dawn on Tuesday, 2 militiamen in another attack in the afternoon, and today’s victim, according to the count of the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Before the attack this morning, the Israeli Army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, warned that “anything can still happen”, including the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, although he described it as “surprising” and “unusual”. the lack of response to the Israeli bombardments on the enclave.
The Israeli Army yesterday killed Jalil Bahitini, Tareq Az Aldin and Jahed Ahnam, the three main leaders in Gaza of the YIP – a group considered a terrorist by Israel, the US and the European Union – in intense simultaneous bombardments in which ten civilians were also killed, including their wives and children.
Shortly after, the Chamber of Joint Military Operations, which brings together the Palestinian armed factions in Gaza -including the JIP and the Islamist Hamas movement- warned that Israel “will pay the price of its aggression”, in reference to a possible armed response that has not yet occurred.
According to analysts, the Gaza militias have not yet responded because they are looking for the surprise factor and attack when Israel has lowered its guard, although some media also point to the need for the YIP to reorganize, having been left headless yesterday with “selective assassination.” of its three main leaders in the strip.
Two killed in West Bank raid
Also on Wednesday, two Palestinians were killed and one more wounded by Israeli fire during a military raid in the northern occupied West Bank.
Image of the house of Islamic Jihad leader Jalil Bahitini after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on May 9. EFE/EPA/Mohammed Saber
According to official Palestinian sources, two young men aged 19 and 24 were shot dead “by the Israeli occupation in Qabatiya” in the north of the occupied West Bank.
For its part, the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said another Palestinian was injured during the operation, which occurred in the Jenin area, a stronghold of Palestinian militias and recent focus of major Israeli military operations.
A spokesman for the Israeli Army confirmed the raid this morning, in which, he says, “armed men fired from a vehicle at soldiers, who responded with fire and killed two.”
An M-16 rifle and a pistol were seized in the operation, it added.
“Israeli troops raided several houses and attacked a vehicle with a hail of bullets,” Wafa described.