Israel and Palestine live the biggest day of violence so far this year: 300 rockets have been launched and 22 Palestinians have died

Israel and the militias of the Gaza Strip registered a strong day of violence on Wednesday, within the framework of an escalation that began this Tuesday with the assassination of three leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (YIP), and which currently registers 22 deaths. Gazans and 289 rockets launched towards Israel.

The day dawned in a climate of tense calm, awaiting the armed response from the strip to the Israeli offensive on Tuesday, which had the objective of killing the three main leaders of the YIP in Gaza, but which also caused the death of 12 other people, including 10 civilians.

The first hostilities on Wednesday came around noon (09:00 GMT), with Israeli shelling on Palestinian militants in Gaza who were allegedly going to launch rockets.

Shortly after, and after more than 24 hours of threats, the militias fired the first projectiles. The anti-aircraft alarms were activated first in the Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza and within minutes the first rocket interceptions were registered over the sky of Tel Aviv, whose population had to run to the shelters for the first time in almost a year.

The latest figures released by the Israeli Army indicate that more than 289 projectiles were launched from Gaza, of which only 3 hit urban areas, without causing injuries. Of the total, 212 crossed into Israeli territory – more than 60 were intercepted by anti-missile systems – and 56 resulted in failed launches that fell within the strip.

As confirmed by a military spokesman, in addition to the well-known Iron Dome system, the David Sling anti-missile system was also used on this occasion, which allows projectiles to be intercepted at a distance of up to 300 kilometers. In parallel, the Israeli Air Force continued to bombard Jihad targets in Gaza throughout the day, where seven people died on Wednesday: four militiamen, two children and a third civilian, aged 20.

In this way, the total number of deaths since the beginning of the hostilities this Tuesday now rises to 22, including nine militiamen and 13 civilians, including six children.. The number of wounded already reaches 64, according to official figures from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Israel blames Islamic Jihad

While the Israeli army has blamed Islamic Jihad for the rocket fire, a spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement – which rules Gaza and has a much larger arsenal – said the group is involved in the armed response.

The Chamber of Joint Military Operations, which brings together the Palestinian armed factions in Gaza – including both the JIP and Hamas – indicated that the rockets on Wednesday are the response to the death of the members of the Jihad and the “treacherous bombardment of civil houses”.

“The murder of our men and heroes is a red line that will be faced with all force and the enemy will pay dearly for it,” the factions added in a statement, in which they also warned that “the resistance is ready for all options, and if the (Israeli) occupation persists in its aggression and arrogance, dark days lie ahead.”

In recent hours, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza reported that Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have intensified their attempts to broker a ceasefire. According to the spokesman, Ismael Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, told the mediators that “the resistance is united and prepared” to continue facing “Israeli aggression.”

“We are focused on defense”

Asked about the mediation attempts, Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari replied: “We are not discussing ceasefire agreements.. We are focused on defense and attack.”

On the other hand, the Command of the Internal Front of the Army announced this Wednesday that the schools and beaches of the Israeli communities near Gaza would remain closed until Friday afternoon, while the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, requested to extend the declaration of emergency situation in all the communities located within a radius of 80 kilometers from the Strip.

The assassination this Tuesday of three leaders of Islamic Jihad -considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US and the European Union and financially and militarily supported by Iran- came a week after a brief escalation of violence in the area, which included the shooting of more than 100 rockets from Gaza following the death of a senior YIP member after 86 days on hunger strike in an Israeli jail.

Since then, both Israel and the militias have increased their preparation for these clashes, while multiple international actors have urged calm.

The current situation is similar to the hostilities of August 2022 between the Israeli Army and Islamic Jihad, also after the assassination by Israel of three senior members of the group and which lasted for three days of intense fighting.. That escalation left a balance of about 50 Palestinians dead in Gaza and none in Israel.