Israel kills senior militant in Gaza; truce efforts continue

Man in prayer shawl passing pile of rubble from rocket strike

By FARES AKRAM and TIA GOLDENBERG

Associated Press

May 11, 2023 3:40 AM PT

GAZA CITY — Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed a fourth militant commander Thursday, raising the Palestinian death toll from the latest burst of fighting to 25. Israel braced for more rocket fire even as Egypt pressed on with attempts to broker a cease-fire.

It has been the worst bout of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza in months, and among the dead were also women and children. The conflagration comes at a time of soaring tensions and spiking violence over the last year in the occupied West Bank.

Early on Thursday, the Israeli military carried out strikes against the Islamic Jihad militant group and said a senior commander in charge of the group’s rocket-launching force, Ali Ghali, was killed when his apartment was hit. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 25 people have been killed since the fighting erupted.

Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told Israeli Army Radio that two other militants were also killed in the strike, although no group immediately claimed them as members, and that the rest of the building remained intact. “The apartment was targeted in a very precise way,” Hagari said. “I hope this leads to a reduction, a blow and a disruption of the Islamic Jihad rocket abilities.”

According to Palestinian media reports, the strikes targeted the top floor of a building in a residential, Qatari-built complex in the southern Gaza Strip. The pre-dawn airstrike in the city of Khan Younis caused damage to three surrounding buildings. The complex, known as Hamad City, consists of several tall buildings and thousands of housing units. The strike created panic among residents, with falling debris and shattered glass littering the streets.

“My children started crying. I did not see anything because of the dust, broken glass and debris,” said Abdullah Hemaid, who lives across from the targeted building.

Islamic Jihad said Ghali was a commander in charge of its rocket squad and a member of its armed group’s decision-making body. The group has said it will only cease fire if Israel agrees to halt targeted killings of its fighters.

Following intense fighting Wednesday, when rockets rained down on southern and central Israel and airstrikes pounded Gaza, a state-run Egyptian TV station announced that Cairo, a frequent mediator between the sides, had brokered a cease-fire. But with the violence continuing into Thursday, it appeared that neither side was backing down.

The Israeli military says that in its strikes on some 150 targets, it has zeroed in on militants with what it says are precision strikes. But children, among them a 4-year-old, were also killed. Hagari, the military spokesman, told Army Radio that a quarter of the rockets launched during this round of fighting fell within Gaza itself, killing at least four people: a 10-year-old girl, two 16-year-olds and a 51-year-old man. That claim could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Efforts to mediate a cease-fire were still underway Thursday with top Islamic Jihad political bureau member Mohamad Hindi arriving to Cairo to discuss details. Israeli officials declined to comment.

In a televised prime-time address on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had dealt a harsh blow to the militants. But he cautioned: “This round is not over.”

“We say to the terrorists and those who send them: We see you everywhere. You can’t hide, and we choose the place and time to strike you,” he said, adding that Israel would also decide when calm is restored.

The initial Israeli airstrikes Tuesday that set off the exchange of fire killed three senior Islamic Jihad militants in their homes and at least 10 civilians — most of them women and children. The Israeli military has said that its attacks were focused on Islamic Jihad militant infrastructure in the coastal enclave and that it would investigate any civilian deaths.

Those strikes set off a burst of rocket fire Wednesday that triggered air-raid sirens throughout southern and central Israel. Damage was reported when rockets slammed into buildings that were empty because residents had fled the area. The military said more than 500 rockets were fired toward Israel. It said most were intercepted by Israel’s missile-defense system or fell in open areas.

Israel says the airstrikes are a response to a barrage of rocket fire launched last week by Islamic Jihad in response to the death of one of its members from a hunger strike while in Israeli custody.

Israel has come under international criticism for the high civilian toll, which included wives of two of the militant commanders, some of their children and a dentist who lived in one of the targeted buildings along with his wife and son.

In past conflicts, rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes because of the high civilian death toll. Israel says it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties and holds militant groups responsible because they operate in heavily populated residential areas. It also says militants fire rockets indiscriminately at Israeli communities.

The latest outburst was the heaviest fighting between the sides in months, pushing the region closer toward a full-blown war. But in signs that both sides were trying to show restraint, Israel avoided attacks on the ruling Hamas militant group, targeting only the smaller and more militant Islamic Jihad faction. Hamas, meanwhile, appeared to remain on the sidelines.

Israel says it is trying to avoid conflict with Hamas, the more powerful militant group that rules Gaza, and limit the fighting to Islamic Jihad.

Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the Islamic militant group took control of Gaza in 2007.

Late Wednesday, Egypt’s Extra News television channel, which has close ties to Egyptian security agencies, said Egyptian intelligence had brokered a cease-fire. Israeli officials confirmed that Egypt was trying to facilitate a truce. Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes diplomacy, they said Israel would evaluate the situation based on actions on the ground, not declarations.

Islamic Jihad said Wednesday it would continue firing rockets.