Missile and rocket battles between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza resumed on Saturday after a relatively calm night with no breakthrough in Egyptian mediation efforts for a ceasefire.
Israeli air strikes battered Gaza and militants fired rockets again on Saturday, as deadly fighting resumed after a night of relative calm despite efforts to secure a truce.
A new ceasefire proposal was circulated late Friday by Egypt, which has been mediating between the two sides, after a previous bid fell through, a Palestinian source said.
Israel’s anti-aircraft defences went into action Saturday after a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza during the funeral of Islamic Jihad military commander Iyad al-Hassani, who was killed the previous day in an Israel strike.
The Islamic Jihad said its fighters were pursuing “missile strikes on Israeli cities” in revenge for Israeli “assassinations” of their commanders and strikes on inhabited regions.
Residents in the crowded Gaza Strip cowered indoors as the fighting raged, with streets empty and only a few shops and pharmacies open.
The exchange of fire came after the Palestinian health ministry reported the death of two men aged 19 and 32 in an Israeli army raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
The Israeli army said it was a “counterterrorism” operation targeting operatives who had been planning attacks on soldiers.
The Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the two men killed in the raid were members of its armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
The current bout of violence erupted on Tuesday when Israeli strikes on Gaza killed three leading Islamic Jihad members. Three other senior figures from the Palestinian militant group were killed in later strikes.
They are among at least 33 Palestinian lives lost in the fighting, according to Gaza’s health ministry, including children.
There has been one fatality on Israeli territory: an elderly woman who rescue services said was killed on Thursday night when a rocket struck the central city of Rehovot.
On Saturday, sirens warning of incoming fire sounded throughout the day in Israeli communities close to the border with Gaza.
Egypt, a historic mediator between Israel and Gaza’s factions, has been working on bringing an end to the fighting, the worst in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since an August flare-up that killed nearly 50 Palestinians.
The conflict has escalated since veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power late last year, heading a coalition with extreme right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
Israel has also been shaken by its biggest domestic political crisis in decades, as mass protests have flared against plans to reform the justice system that have been spearheaded by Netanyahu, who is also battling corruption charges in court.
Roger Barake, with AFP
