The Islamic Jihad faction said it targeted Jerusalem in retaliation for Israel’s overnight killing of Khaled Mansour, its commander in southern Gaza. “The blood of the martyrs will not go to waste,” he said. About 30 Palestinians, at least a third of them civilians, were killed in fighting in Gaza that broke out on Friday, while rockets have paralyzed much of southern Israel and sent residents in cities such as Tel Aviv and Ashkelon to shelters. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Casualties on the Israeli side have been prevented by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which a military spokesman said had a 97 percent success rate in shooting down rockets. The flare-up has alarmed world powers and prompted Egypt to broker a ceasefire. But it has been limited by the fact that Hamas, the ruling Islamist group in the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007, has been on fire. Palestinians stunned by another wave of bloodshed – after war broke out in 2008-09, 2012, 2014 and last year – broke through the rubble of homes to salvage furniture or documents. “Who wants war? Nobody. But we also don’t like to be silent when women, children and leaders are killed,” said a taxi driver in Gaza who identified himself only as Abu Mohammad. “Tit for tat”. Israel said it would stop firing if Islamic Jihad did. “Quiet will be answered with quiet,” said a military spokesman. Explosions of rocket interceptors in the air over towns about 5 kilometers (2 miles) west of Jerusalem could be heard in the city as Jews fasted in an annual commemoration of two ancient temples. The site where these shrines once stood is now the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site and an icon of Palestinian nationalism, in Jerusalem’s walled Old City. Dozens of Jews toured the complex under police guard on Sunday. Scheduled visits are an affront to the Palestinians. Video released online shows some Jews trying to pray in defiance of Israeli regulations as police moved in to stop them and Muslim worshipers shouted in protest. Confrontations at the site helped spark a war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021. Read more Israel launched Friday’s strikes in what it described as a pre-emptive attack by Islamic Jihad to avenge the capture of a group leader in the occupied West Bank. Arrests against the group continued on this ground. The hundreds of rockets fired by Islamic Jihad in response are the reason for the continued operation, according to Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Shaar, a member of the decision-making security cabinet. Asked on Israeli army radio if the end might be near, he said: “I hope so, but I don’t want to put too much hope in it. To the extent that Islamic Jihad wants to prolong this operation, it will regret it.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta. writing by Dan Williams. edited by Mark Heinrich Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Nidal Al-Mughrabi Thomson Reuters Senior correspondent with nearly 25 years of experience covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including several wars and the signing of the first historic peace agreement between the two sides.
