Palestinians
fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel and Israel launched scores of air
strikes in Gaza as fighting entered a second day on Thursday despite efforts to
broker a truce to end months of simmering violence, Reuters reported.
Palestinian officials said three people were killed in the
Israeli attacks: a member of the Islamist Hamas group that rules Gaza, a
pregnant woman, and her 18-month-old child. At least five civilians were
wounded, local medical officials said.
The
Israeli military said seven people were wounded in southern Israel; one was
identified by her employer as a Thai agricultural worker.
The exchanges, which began on Wednesday,
have stayed within familiar parameters. The rocket fire from Gaza has not
targeted Israel’s heartland and the Israeli military said its air strikes were
limited to Hamas installations.
Yuval Steinitz, a member of Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner cabinet, told Israel Radio: “We are not
eager for war and are not interested in a broader confrontation but at the same
time it could certainly happen because we will not make any concessions to
Hamas.”
Netanyahu was due to convene the
security cabinet later to assess the situation.
The flare-up came after officials on
both sides had talked about potential progress in an effort by the United
Nations and Egypt to broker a truce to end months of violence and alleviate
deepening humanitarian and economic hardship in the Gaza Strip.
Rocket warning sirens sounded almost
non-stop in the southern Israeli town of Sderot and other border communities
from sunset on Wednesday. Many residents have a reinforced room in their homes
where they can shelter. The military said more than 150 rockets and mortar
bombs were fired from Gaza.
Ambulance
sirens echoed through the night in Gaza, where families huddled at home as
powerful explosions shook buildings. The Israeli military said its aircraft
struck 140 facilities belonging to Hamas.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri blamed
Israel for the escalation, citing the killing of two Hamas gunmen on Tuesday in
northern Gaza which he described as unprovoked.
Israeli media reports said fire from the
gunmen had apparently been part of a Hamas exercise and not directed at Israel.
An Israeli military spokesman said Hamas operatives had shot in the general
direction of Israel’s border.
U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov
said in an overnight statement: “I am deeply alarmed by the recent escalation
of violence between Gaza and Israel, and particularly by today’s multiple
rockets fired toward communities in southern Israel.”
The United Nations, he said, has engaged
with Egypt in an “unprecedented effort” to avoid serious conflict, but
cautioned that “the situation can rapidly deteriorate with devastating
consequences for all people”.
Gaza has been controlled by Hamas for
more than a decade, during which time it has fought three wars against Israel,
most recently in 2014.
