JERUSALEM – Exchanges of fire triggered by Israel’s targeted killing of atop militant in Gaza raged for a second day Wednesday and showed littlesign of easing as the Palestinian death toll shot up to 23.
Fresh rocket barrages were fired at Israel, which responded with strikes onwhat it said were Islamic Jihad militant sites and rocket-launching squadsin the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday afternoon, it said it targeted two Islamic Jihad militantspreparing to fire anti-tank missiles.Ad
Air raid sirens wailed and fireballs exploded as air defence missilesintercepted rockets, sending Israelis rushing to bomb shelters.
In Gaza, residents surveyed damage and mourned the dead outside a mortuaryand at funerals.
UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov was to hold talks in Cairo on halting thefighting, a diplomatic source said, but a source close to the discussionsaimed at mediating a truce warned that the risk of further escalationremained high.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Islamic Jihad must stop itsstop rocket attacks or “absorb more and more blows”.
He reiterated his warning that “this could take time” and said Israel wouldrespond to attacks “without mercy”.
Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab al-Barayem said the group was not interestedin mediation for now as it retaliated to the killing of one of itscommanders.
Israel killed senior Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Ata and his wifeAsma in a targeted strike early Tuesday, prompting barrages of tit-for-tatrocket fire and air strikes.
According to Israel, Ata was responsible for rocket fire at Israel as wellas other attacks and was planning more violence, with the military callinghim a “ticking bomb.”
The flare-up raised fears of a new all-out conflict between Israel andPalestinian militants in Gaza, who have fought three wars since 2008.
A total of 23 Palestinians have been killed so far, including Ata and hiswife, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Islamic Jihad confirmed the dead included other members of its armed wing,while the health ministry said three children were also among the dead, andthat more than 70 people were injured.
– 220 rockets –
Since Israel’s killing of Ata in what was believed to be a drone strike, atleast 220 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza and dozens havebeen intercepted by air defences, according to the army.
There have been no Israeli deaths, though damage has been caused and onerocket narrowly missed cars on a busy highway.
Israeli medics said they had treated 48 people with light wounds, whileschools were closed in areas near the Gaza border for a second day running.
Schools in the blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of two million people, havebeen closed since Tuesday.
Unusually and in a sign it was seeking to avoid a wider conflict, Israel’sannounced targets were confined to Islamic Jihad sites and not thosebelonging to Hamas.
It normally holds Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip,responsible for all rocket fire from the enclave as the territory’s defacto rulers.
Israeli analysts were quick to highlight the change of approach.
“For the first time in the current era, Israel drew a distinction betweenHamas and Islamic Jihad,” commentator Ben Caspit wrote in Israeli newspaperMaariv.
“By so doing, Israel deviated from its iron-clad principle that Hamas, asthe sovereign power in Gaza, has to pay the price for any action taken byanyone in the Gaza Strip. That is now no longer the case.”
Islamic Jihad is the second most-powerful militant group in the Gaza Stripafter Hamas and has taken responsibility for rocket fire.
Hamas, however, said it would not abandon its ally.
“As long as the Israeli warplanes bomb the Gaza Strip, the resistance willrespond to the Israeli aggression and defend the Palestinian people,” ajoint statement from Gaza militant groups said.
The flare-up comes at a politically sensitive time for Israel.
A September 17 general election ended in a deadlock and a new government isyet to be formed.
It was the second election since April, when polls also endedinconclusively.
The violence has drawn international calls for calm.
Britain’s Foreign Office said: “We call on all sides to rapidly de-escalatethe situation, and support the UN and Egyptian efforts to achieve thatobjective.” -APP/AFP