Three days of rocket and missile exchanges between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip have killed 29 people in the Palestinian enclave and one person in Israel, despite international calls for an end to the hostilities, for calm to be restored.

Faint hope of de-escalation for civilians on both sides of the wall – or “fence” – that separates Israeli territories from the Gaza Strip: “definitive ceasefire formulation” is being negotiated in Egypt, according to a source close to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an armed movement which since Tuesday has been the target of successive Israeli airstrikes.

The Israeli military, however, announced shortly before midnight [τοπική ώρα και ώρα Ελλάδας] how it continues to hit “targets”, members of the radical organization, after killing five of its senior figures in 72 hours, in raids that also resulted in the deaths of civilians, including children.

The flare-up of violence began in the early hours of Tuesday, with Israeli airstrikes targeting members of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a “terrorist” organization according to Israel, the European Union and the United States. These are the most intense clashes since August 2022.

“Unacceptable”

Yesterday, Thursday, the European Union called for an “immediate ceasefire to end Israeli military operations in Gaza and rocket fire against Israel, which are unacceptable.”

The US demanded that all parties “take measures to ensure that civilian deaths are avoided” and “de-escalate violence”. While UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated that he is watching with “great concern the dangerous escalation” of violence.

One person was killed Thursday in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, when a rocket hit an apartment building, according to Israeli police. Emergency services said five people were wounded in Israel by shrapnel after Palestinian rocket fire began yesterday Wednesday.

In the Gaza Strip, an enclave ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas, the Ministry of Health counts 29 dead, including children, and more than 80 injured since Tuesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said yesterday that it had recorded 26 deaths on the Palestinian side, including at least 13 civilians, including seven children, four members of armed organizations and “nine whose status remains to be verified”.

AFP journalists reported seeing Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip and rockets fired at Israel several times yesterday, as well as rockets being intercepted by Israeli air defense arrays.

In Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip, where residents have been living mostly in shelters for three days, sirens sounded frequently yesterday, from morning to night.

According to Chahal, the Israeli military, at least 620 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel.

The Israeli army claims that 25% of them fell inside the Palestinian enclave, killing four people, including three minors. So far there has been no reaction from Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to this claim.

At Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, Suhail al Masri, 32, went to see his son, who was injured in an Israeli strike.

“I wouldn’t leave the house otherwise, the situation is very dangerous,” he said. “Israel is shelling everywhere and the rocket fire from the resistance has not stopped.”

“The Israeli murderers will not go unpunished and for the resistance all options are on the table,” the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said yesterday Wednesday, while Hamas assured on Thursday that “the resistance [είναι] united”.

Tehran, which supports the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, denounced the “atrocities of the Zionists” and wished for the “defeat” of the “occupation regime”.

“90 seconds”

The Gaza Strip, a tiny enclave plagued by poverty and unemployment, with 2.3 million Palestinian residents under strict Israeli blockade, has been the scene of several wars with Israel since 2008.

Egypt, traditionally a mediator between the warring parties, continues efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement.

Mohammed al-Hindi, an official of the political arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, arrived in Cairo on Thursday, a source close to the movement told AFP on condition of anonymity.

In Rehovot, Ran Lev, 82, said he was “on the 4th floor of a building that was hit by the rocket.”

“I heard the siren and realized I had 90 seconds to get to the shelter,” he said. The building was “hit” before a minute and a half had even passed, but “I got out (…) and everything is fine”.

In August 2022, three days of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad left 49 dead on the Palestinian side, including 19 children, according to the UN. More than a thousand rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel, with three injured, according to Israeli authorities.