Alaa Qaddoum (5 years)
Fri 05 August 2022:
On Friday, Israel launched a series of attacks across the Gaza Strip, killing Taysir al-Jabari, a commander of the Al Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad.
Among those killed was a five-year-old girl, while 65 others suffered various injuries, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has expressed support for the Israeli attacks on Gaza, while also calling for calm.
“The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorist groups that have taken the lives of innocent civilians in Israel,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson told Al Jazeera. “We are urging all sides to avoid further escalation.”
Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, echoed those remarks in a Twitter post.
The United States firmly believes that Israel has a right to protect itself. We are engaging with different parties and urge all sides for calm.
— Ambassador Tom Nides (@USAmbIsrael) August 5, 2022
Israel ’emboldened’ by Biden administration
Senior Al Jazeera analyst Marwan Bishara has underscored the US role in the recent escalation, noting President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel last month and the billions of dollars worth of military aid that Washington provides to Israel annually.
“Biden being there only a few weeks ago … praising Israel for its policies in Palestine and elsewhere, it tells us that Israel feels emboldened by an American administration that basically allows it, even subsidises it, to do whatever it wants,” Bishara said.
“Israel imposes an occupation, a blockade, a closure on a people for a decade, and continues to claim that these people are intent on the destruction of Israel,” he said.
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for rockets fired
Al Jazeera’s Youmna Elsayed, reporting from Gaza, said that the Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the rockets launched towards Israel.
Rocket attacks that began at 9:00pm local time (18:00 GMT) were “the first response by the Palestinian fighting groups here. Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the rockets that are being launched from the Gaza Strip,” Elsayed said.
Even though Hamas – the group that governs Gaza – did not claim responsibility for the rockets, Israel considers the group responsible for all fire emanating from the enclave.
Israel launched attacks based on ‘concrete threats’: Israeli PM
In a nationally televised speech, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Israel had launched the attacks on Gaza based on “concrete threats”.
“This government has a zero-tolerance policy for any attempted attacks – of any kind – from Gaza towards Israeli territory,” Lapid said. “Israel will not sit idly by when there are those who are trying to harm its civilians.”
He also added that “Israel isn’t interested in a broader conflict in Gaza, but will not shy away from one either.”
Several Rockets from Gaza were intercepted by Israeli Iron dome in Southern #Israel#Gaza #Palestine
#غزة pic.twitter.com/C4Xe62e38t— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 5, 2022
Several Rockets from Gaza were intercepted by Israeli Iron dome in Southern #Israel#Gaza #Palestine
#غزة pic.twitter.com/roT0Jd5EEi— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) August 5, 2022
Violence ‘quickest way to boost election support’ for Lapid: Think-tank
Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), a US-based think-tank that backs Palestinian rights, has said that attacking Palestinians is a way for Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to bolster his support in the run-up to of the Israeli elections in November.
“There is no questioning the violence of Israeli policy when the Prime Minister himself has openly called for Palestinians to be forcibly expelled from their homes,” IMEU said in a series of tweets.
Let’s be clear about #GazaUnderAttack: Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, whose coalition is struggling in the polls, knows that the quickest way to boost election support is to attack Palestinians. This is politically-motivated violence, and it killed a 5-year-old child today.
— IMEU (@theIMEU) August 5, 2022
Islamic Jihad says 100 rockets fired at Israel from Gaza
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said it fired more than 100 rockets at Israel, as an “initial response” to deadly Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip.
“As an initial response to the killing of senior commander Taysir al-Jabari and his brethren martyrs … the Al-Quds Brigade covered Tel Aviv, central cities and areas surrounding Gaza with more than 100 rockets,” Islamic Jihad’s military wing said in a statement.
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