The war between Israel and Hamas does not stop. Indeed, the conflict is spreading, with the Jewish state determined to go on “as long as necessary”. Hopes for a truce seem slim, even though Joe Biden’s United States sent Israeli-Palestinian envoy Hady Amr to the region to meet with the parties and seek de-escalation.
Israel extended restrictions in areas under rocket fire until Saturday
The Israeli military authorities extended the emergency restrictions imposed in areas under fire from Hamas rockets until Saturday evening. In these southern areas and central Israel, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, schools remain closed and outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited. A maximum of 100 people can stay indoors and workplaces can only stay open if there is a missile shelter nearby. Times of Israel reports. The decision of the IDF Home Front Command (Israeli Defense Forces) was made on the basis of the assessment that the conflict shows no signs of abating.
Biden: “Israel has the right to defend itself”
“Israel has the right to defend itself,” said the American president on the evening of Wednesday, May 12, who then speaking on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu launched an appeal for calm to be restored as soon as possible. But on the ground the situation continues to worsen. Faced with more than 1,200 rockets arriving from Gaza – seven Israeli casualties so far, including a six-year-old boy shot in Sderot, a low toll thanks to the Iron Dome defense system – Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel is not ready. for a ceasefire. From the Strip – where the victims are at least 53, “including 14 children and minors, and three women”, according to data from the local health ministry – Hamas and Islamic Jihad have raised the bar by firing 15 rockets in the direction of Dimona, where c ‘is an Israeli nuclear site. But also to Beer Sheva in the Negev and in the evening around Tel Aviv. Israel responded by eliminating prominent Hamas military leaders in a joint operation between the army and Shin Bet. A blow that hit men very close to the head of the Hamas military wing – the Al Qassam Brigades – Mohammed Deif. Among them Bassem Issa, head of the Brigades in Gaza City, and the head of arms production Jamal Zabadeh.
The balance of the clashes
“This is only the beginning,” premier Benyamin Netanyahu threatened, adding that Israel will inflict “blows on the terrorist organization that it cannot even imagine.” Previously, a Hamas anti-tank rocket hit a military jeep just beyond the border, causing three serious injuries: one of the three, soldier Omer Tabib, 21, later died in hospital from his injuries. Other victims in Israel also include an Arab father and daughter who were shot while in a car and a foreign caregiver. Throughout Wednesday, there was constant rocket fire from Gaza, especially against Israeli communities close to the Strip, including the towns of Ashkelon and Ashdod. The Iron Dome system – according to army data – intercepted about 85% of them while 200 exploded inside the Strip. Israel retaliated with massive attacks that hit some 500 military targets (including a 10-story building, referred to as the headquarters of Hamas intelligence) and accused the Palestinian factions of putting their weapons production sites “in the heart. of civil areas “
Ambassador Israel to the UN, we do not want to escalate, we must defend ourselves
“The state of Israel is not interested in escalation. However, it has the right and the duty to defend its people and its sovereignty and will continue to do so ”. This is what the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, writes in a letter to the United Nations Security Council, urging a condemnation for the rain of rockets from the Gaza Strip against Israel, accusing Hamas – and underlining the support of Iran to the movement – to be “responsible for these bloody attacks”. “The indiscriminate fire of rockets constitutes a double war crime: hitting civilians of Israel and firing rockets from civilian neighborhoods and institutions of Gaza – states in the missive reported by the Times of Israel on the eve of the new meeting of ” UN Security Council emergency – Hamas presents itself as ‘defender of Jerusalem and sacred places’. It is obviously a lie. It is clear that Hamas has premeditated this escalation of violence and terrorism ».