Many countries in the region and beyond, as well as the United Nations, rebuked Israel’s new airstrike against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
It was on this Friday evening that the Israeli army launched an airstrike against civil areas in the Gaza Strip, killing at least nine people, including a five-year-old child. The military operation known as “Sabah Sadiq”, also left nearly fifty Palestinian civilians injured.
Richard Hasht, the spokesman of the Israeli army, told reporters on Saturday morning that the attacks were carried out against members of the Islamic Jihad group and will continue. He also described the bombing of Gaza as “preventive attacks” and said that one of the commanders of the Islamic Jihad group was the target of these attacks.
An official of Islamic Jihad confirmed Israel’s claim and noted in a statement that one of the senior commanders of the group named “Tisir al-Jabari” was killed in the attacks. Tisir al-Jabari was a member of the command council of “Seria al-Quds” (Bait al-Maqdis groups), which is considered the military branch of the Islamic Jihad group.
Reactions to Israel’s new attack
Israel’s attack to Civilian areas in the Gaza Strip and killing of Palestinian people sparked reactions from several countries in the region as well as the United Nations.
Qatar, for example, issued a statement and strongly condemned the attack, calling for immediate action by the international community to stop repeated attacks on Palestinian civilians.
Turkey also issued a similar statement, strongly condemning Israel’s attack on Gaza and describing the killing of Palestinian civilians as “totally unacceptable.”
Iran also “strongly condemned the barbaric attack of the Zionist apartheid regime on Gaza and the assassination of the resistance commanders and a group of defenseless Palestinian people,” said Nasser Kanani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Out of the Middle East region, the Foreign Ministries of Algeria and Tunisia also rebuked Israel’s operation by publishing statements and demanded its immediate stop.
Last but not least, Stefan Dujarric, the spokesman of the United Nations, said on Friday night that the UN has “always been concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” demanding immediate ending to the tensions.
While so many countries in the world openly condemned Israel’s new attacks, Washington took a strikingly different approach and chose to support Israel’s airstrike. In this regard, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this Saturday that the US stood by Israel and remained “unwavering” in its commitment to Israel’s security. “We absolutely fully support Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorist groups that have taken the lives of innocent civilians in Israel,” he noted.
Palestine reacts with force
Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who is preparing for general elections, also issued a statement addressing the attack and asserted that these measures are aimed at “eliminating the threat against Israeli citizens and those living in the vicinity of Gaza.” But whether such bloody assaults targeting civil areas in the Gaza Strip can eliminate threats against Israel is room for question. This is mostly because in reaction to Israel’s Friday attack, the Islamic Jihad fired more than 100 rockets at Israel.
“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,” the Islamic Jihad’s military wing said in a statement on Friday.
Several reports also confirmed the sounding of danger alarm of an air strike in the south and central areas of Israel on Friday evening. Israel said that the rockets fired from Gaza did not cause any damage, but Al Arabiya pointed out that Israel’s “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense intercepted only 40 missiles out of 100 launched from Gaza.
