CAIRO/JERUSALEM/GAZA
Israel has escalated its attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since halting its joint bombing with the US in Iran, redirecting its fire back on the ruined Palestinian enclave where the military believes Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in Gaza since the Iran war was paused on April 8 — 20 percent more than in the five weeks prior when Israel was flying sorties over Iran. Conflict monitor ACLED, which tracks Israeli attacks in Gaza, said in a monthly report for April that Israel had carried out 35 percent more attacks last month than in March.
The increase in Israeli strikes on Gaza is a further sign of stalled progress under US President Donald Trump’s plan to halt the war there and begin reconstruction. “The war is still ongoing,” said Lafi Al-Najjar, 36, a blind Palestinian, one of whose sons was killed on April 28 in an Israeli attack.
“It stopped in the announcement, but in reality and on the ground, the war has not stopped,” said Najjar, whose family have been living in a tented camp in the ruins of Khan Younis, once Gaza’s second-largest city.
The Israeli military did not immediately provide comment on the reasons for its stepped-up strikes in Gaza. But four Israeli defense officials have told Reuters that the military had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in recent weeks that Hamas has been tightening its grip, rebuilding its forces and making weapons.
Another Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Gaza ceasefire allows for Israel to act against imminent threats. The official said the military was prepared for any scenario, including having drawn up wider battle plans for a resumption of fighting in Gaza, though no such order had yet been given. — DNA
