ISRAELI PRIME minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed additional retaliation yesterday as aircraft pounded targets in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired more than 30 rockets into southern Israel in the most serious escalation of violence since Israeli forces invaded Gaza in December 2008.
The flare-up came a day after an attack by militants on Israeli vehicles north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat left eight Israelis dead and more than 20 wounded.
Visiting wounded soldiers yesterday, Mr Netanyahu warned that Israeli air strikes in Gaza were just the first phase of Israel’s response. “We have a policy of exacting a heavy price from those who harm us, and this policy is being implemented on the ground,” he said.
As rockets landed in southern Israel during the day, Hamas’s military wing, the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, issued a statement saying “the blood of resistance leaders has not been shed in vain; the continuance of Israel’s crimes will bring a disaster on its head”.
The violence also put a serious strain on Israel’s relations with Egypt. Cairo lodged an official complaint and demanded that Israel investigate the deaths of three Egyptian security officials killed when Israeli aircraft fired at suspected militants fleeing across the Gaza-Egypt border.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Israeli embassy in Cairo and there were protests in Alexandria and Suez, where Israeli flags were burned.
Weekend football matches and large gatherings were cancelled in the south of Israel and residents in were ordered to stay close to bomb shelters.
Throughout the day missiles and longer-range Grad rockets fired from Gaza hit towns in southern Israel, including the large cities of Beersheba, Ashdod and Ashkelon. Israel’s Iron Dome defence system intercepted a number of projectiles.
The Israeli military confirmed direct hits against what were termed three terrorist cells in Gaza. Palestinian sources reported a number of fatalities, including that of Samad Abdul-Mati, a senior commander of the Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing, who was hit while riding his motorcycle in northern Gaza.
Palestinian official Nabil Shaath called the Israeli strikes on Gaza a “war crime” and an attempt to thwart next month’s bid by the Palestinians for UN recognition of an independent state. “The Israeli insanity will not hold back the Palestinian leadership from going to the UN; on the contrary it will give us a stronger motivation to continue our move,” he said.