Israel also lifted security restrictions on southern Israeli communities after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire took effect late Sunday. War-weary people in Gaza and Israel have been left to pick up the pieces after another round of violence – the worst since the 11-day war between Israel and the region’s militant Hamas rulers last year. Since Friday, Israeli warplanes have struck targets in Gaza, while the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel. During three days of fighting, 44 Palestinians were killed, including 15 children and four women, and 311 were injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. Twelve of the dead were Islamic Jihad fighters, one from a smaller armed group and two were Hamas-linked police officers who did not take part in the fighting, according to the armed factions. Israel estimates that a total of 47 Palestinians were killed, including 14 by Islamic Jihad rockets. It said 20 militants and seven civilians had died in Israeli airstrikes and that it was still investigating six deaths. No Israelis were killed or seriously injured in the fighting. The violence threatened to escalate into another all-out war, but was contained because Hamas remained on the sidelines, possibly fearing Israeli reprisals and the dismantling of its economic understanding with Israel, including the issuance of Israeli work permits that provide a vital source of income for thousands residents of Gaza. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the group seized the territory in 2007. The conflicts have taken a staggering toll on the impoverished region’s 2.3 million Palestinians. The latest violence may have boosted the political fortunes of Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid, who had no experience leading military operations. He launched the attack less than three months before a general election in which he is campaigning to retain the seat. “All our goals have been achieved,” Lapid said Monday. “The entire senior military command of Islamic Jihad in Gaza was successfully targeted within three days.” Israel has begun reopening the crossings to Gaza for humanitarian needs and has said it will fully open them if calm continues. Fuel trucks were seen entering the main cargo crossing and heading towards the power plant, which was closed on Saturday after Israel closed the crossings. That added misery at the height of summer heat in the region, which is under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade and suffers from a chronic power crisis that leaves residents with just a few hours of electricity a day. Life for hundreds of thousands of Israelis was disrupted during the violence, even as the country’s sophisticated Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted many of the rockets. Israel began its operation with a strike on Friday against an Islamic Jihad commander, saying there were “specific threats” of an anti-tank missile strike against Israelis in response to the capture of a senior Islamic Jihad operative last week in the occupied West Bank. This arrest came after months of Israeli raids in the West Bank following a series of Palestinian attacks. Israel killed another Islamic Jihad leader in an attack on Saturday. Both sides boasted of their successes. Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Sunday, Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhla said the militant group remains strong despite losing two commanders. “This is a victory for Islamic Jihad,” he said. Despite this claim, the team was undoubtedly dealt a blow. In addition to the loss of the two leaders, it reduced its arsenal by firing hundreds of rockets. Israel said some of the deaths in Gaza were caused by errant rocket fire, including at the Jebaliya refugee camp, where seven Palestinians were killed on Saturday. The military said the deaths of five Palestinians in Jebaliya were still under investigation, apparently referring to five children killed in an explosion at a cemetery on Sunday. The ceasefire agreement contained a promise that Egypt would work to free two senior Islamic Jihad prisoners held by Israel. The weekend fighting is also expected to complicate Islamic Jihad’s relationship with Hamas. In the occupied West Bank on Monday, Israeli troops demolished the homes of two Palestinians suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on Israelis in the town of Elad in May. The soldiers faced violent protest during the operation, the army said. The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday for the latest round of fighting. “We underline our commitment to do all we can to end the ongoing escalation, ensure the safety and security of the civilian population and follow up on the Palestinian prisoner case,” the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process , Tor Wennesland. he said in a statement. The Israeli military said militants in Gaza fired about 1,100 rockets into Israel, while about 200 landed inside the Palestinian enclave. The military said its air defenses intercepted 380, including two launched toward Jerusalem. The military did not say what happened to the rest, but they likely fell in open areas or broke up in flight. Islamic Jihad has fewer fighters and supporters than Hamas, and little is known about its arsenal. Both groups call for the destruction of Israel, but have different priorities, with Hamas constrained by the demands of the regime. Over the past year, Israel and Hamas have reached a tacit understanding based on a lull in trade for work permits and a slight relaxation of the border blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt when Hamas seized the region 15 years ago. Israel has issued 12,000 work permits to Gazan workers and opened the prospect of 2,000 more.
Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
