Biden Welcomes Gaza Truce, Laments Civilian Casualties
US President Joe Biden - AP News
Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat
US President Joe Biden on Sunday welcomed a truce between Israel and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, urging all parties to implement it fully.
The president said in a statement that Washington had worked with officials from the Jewish state, the Palestinian Authority and various countries in the region to “encourage a swift resolution to the conflict” over the previous three days.
“We also call on all parties to fully implement the ceasefire, and to ensure fuel and humanitarian supplies are flowing into Gaza as the fighting subsides,” Biden added.
The president also lamented the injury and death of civilians in Gaza, but did not specify who was responsible.
The violence has left at least 44 Palestinians dead, including 15 children.
Biden said reports of civilian casualties in Gaza are a tragedy, "whether by Israeli strikes against Islamic Jihad positions or the dozens of Islamic Jihad rockets that reportedly fell inside Gaza."
“As I made clear during my recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, Israelis and Palestinians both deserve to live safely and securely and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy,” stressed Biden, who traveled to the region last month.
At least 41 people reportedly killed in operation conducted by IDF in the Gaza Strip
15 children and four women were among 41 killed, while 311 people were injured in the attacks (illustrative photo / AA).
The Jerusalem Post reports that Operation Breaking Dawn so far seems to have more in common with Operation Black Belt in which Al-Ata was killed and Hamas chose not to get openly involved.
Operation Breaking Dawn, which started on Friday, was reportedly a long time in the making.
Israel’s southern communities had been in a lockdown since last Tuesday after Israeli security forces arrested Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior member Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin.
According to The Jerusalem Post, residents of the South, who were held virtual hostages afterwards, now know why: Such intelligence and preparation also enabled the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday to kill Islamic Jihad’s top commander in Gaza, Tayseer al-Jabari, in a precise operation and thwart a ticking time bomb: He was reportedly involved in planning imminent major attacks on Israel, including the use of lethal anti-tank missiles close to the border.
Jabari replaced Baha Abu Al-Ata, who was killed in a similar airstrike in November 2019. Other senior Islamic Jihad figures were killed in well-conducted strikes over the weekend, including Islamic Jihad’s southern division commander Khaled Mansour.
The BBC says at least 10 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, including a top commander of a Palestinian militant group. Local health officials said a young girl was among the dead with dozens of others wounded.
According to the BBC, Israel's PM said the operation followed "an immediate threat" by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) after the arrest of one of its members early last week.
The PIJ reportedly fired more than 100 rockets into Israel "in an initial response".
Most were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense shield.
Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported yesterday that the Palestinian death toll from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip rose to 41.
A statement released by the Palestinian Health Ministry said 15 children and four women were among the victims, while 311 people were injured in the attacks.
Reuters reports that Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group declared a truce late on Sunday, raising hopes of an end to the most serious flare-up on the Gaza frontier in more than a year.
It was announced in separate statements by Islamic Jihad and then Israel, who both thanked Egypt for mediating the ceasefire.
Israeli forces pounded Palestinian targets through the weekend, triggering rocket attacks against its cities, which largely tapered off by the time the truce came into effect at 23:30 (20:30 GMT).
The Jerusalem Post reports that Operation Breaking Dawn so far seems to have more in common with Operation Black Belt in which Al-Ata was killed and Hamas chose not to get openly involved.
Operation Breaking Dawn, which started on Friday, was reportedly a long time in the making.
Israel’s southern communities had been in a lockdown since last Tuesday after Israeli security forces arrested Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior member Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin.
According to The Jerusalem Post, residents of the South, who were held virtual hostages afterwards, now know why: Such intelligence and preparation also enabled the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday to kill Islamic Jihad’s top commander in Gaza, Tayseer al-Jabari, in a precise operation and thwart a ticking time bomb: He was reportedly involved in planning imminent major attacks on Israel, including the use of lethal anti-tank missiles close to the border.
Jabari replaced Baha Abu Al-Ata, who was killed in a similar airstrike in November 2019. Other senior Islamic Jihad figures were killed in well-conducted strikes over the weekend, including Islamic Jihad’s southern division commander Khaled Mansour.
The BBC says at least 10 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, including a top commander of a Palestinian militant group. Local health officials said a young girl was among the dead with dozens of others wounded.
According to the BBC, Israel's PM said the operation followed "an immediate threat" by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) after the arrest of one of its members early last week.
The PIJ reportedly fired more than 100 rockets into Israel "in an initial response".
Most were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense shield.
Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported yesterday that the Palestinian death toll from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip rose to 41.
A statement released by the Palestinian Health Ministry said 15 children and four women were among the victims, while 311 people were injured in the attacks.
Reuters reports that Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group declared a truce late on Sunday, raising hopes of an end to the most serious flare-up on the Gaza frontier in more than a year.
It was announced in separate statements by Islamic Jihad and then Israel, who both thanked Egypt for mediating the ceasefire.
Israeli forces pounded Palestinian targets through the weekend, triggering rocket attacks against its cities, which largely tapered off by the time the truce came into effect at 23:30 (20:30 GMT).
Reuters
August 07, 2022
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) - When Israeli rockets slammed into her neighbourhood in a crowded refugee camp in the Gaza strip on Saturday night, 9-year-old Leen Matar said she was so scared that she began to recite Islam's final prayers.
"We were at my grandfather’s house when suddenly the rubble started to fall on us," she told Reuters from a hospital bed, her father beside her as she was treated for a broken leg. "We started to cry until the neighbours arrived and rescued us."
"I was saying the last prayers, I didn’t expect I would live until the moment they rescued me," she said. "We sat like this for 10 minutes until they broke down the door."
Matar was wounded in an Israeli strike that killed a senior commander with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group late on Saturday evening, the second day of a major flare-up in violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The Gaza authorities said five civilians were killed in the attack in the Rafah refugee camp, along with the commander - Khaled Mansour - and two of his associates.
A senior Israeli military officer said Israel had hit Mansour and a few commanders with him. He said the army did not know exactly how many civilians were killed but he denied it was five.
On Sunday morning, residents sifted through the rubble at the camp, a warren of alleys that is home to Palestinians whose families fled or were expelled from towns and villages in 1948 during the war of Israel's creation.
Some carried away a small bike and some books. Another dragged pieces of furniture away. Others looked for family documents and photo albums.
The casualties add to the toll of the most serious escalation between Israel and Palestinian militants in more than a year.
The sides have agreed to observe an Egyptian-proposed truce from Sunday evening, sources said.
Israel began mounting air strikes on Friday against what it described as Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. Around 30 Palestinians have been killed, at least a third of them civilians. Israel says it does not target civilians.
Islamic Jihad has fired hundreds of missiles into Israel, where antimissile defences have prevented casualties but people have still been driven into shelters.
'A HORRIFYING SCENE'
Palestinian residents said six homes had been destroyed in Rafah. The senior Israeli officer said Israel had destroyed the house Mansour was in and not the surrounding houses, and the strike was timed to minimise "collateral damage".
Ahmed Temraz, whose house was damaged, said six missiles had hit the area and there had been no forewarning of the attack.
"It was a horrifying scene, words can’t explain; injustice, terror and the fear of children and women,” Temraz, 46, told Reuters. "It was very scary. People were dismembered."
Residents had joined emergency workers and medics in rescue operations that continued until dawn, witnesses said.
Ashraf Al-Qaissi, whose house was about 50 metres from the targeted area, described chaotic scenes as residents sought to flee while aiding casualties.
"They hit the area without forewarning, I ran with my children, and my daughter got wounded in her hand," said Qaissi, 46.
He spoke sitting atop the ruins of his home, saying he had allowed rescue workers to knock it down so they could access the targeted area with a bulldozer to help search for victims under rubble.
"The trapped people are more precious," Qaissi told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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