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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/ceasefire-elusive-israels-bloodshed-continues-gaza">electronicintifada.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Ceasefire elusive as Israel's bloodshed continues in Gaza</h1>
<p class="gmail-node__submitted">
<span class="gmail-field gmail-field-author"><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah">Ali Abunimah</a></span> -
<span class="gmail-field gmail-field-publication-date"><span class="gmail-date-display-single">10 May 2023</span></span> </p>
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<span><img src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2023-05/230510_-_gaza2.jpg?itok=x0-hkIU_×tamp=1683754409" alt="" title="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="457" height="292"></span><p>Smoke billows following Israeli military strikes in Gaza City on 10 May.</p><small>
<span>APA images</span></small><p>Israel escalated
its bloody assault on the Gaza Strip for the second day on Wednesday,
killing six Palestinians in the coastal enclave and prompting barrages
of retaliatory rockets from resistance groups in the territory.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed Wednesday morning in an
Israeli attack on Qabatiya, a town near the northern West Bank city of
Jenin.</p>
<p>The violence intensified Wednesday evening as efforts to reach a
ceasefire continued with the prospects of success seemingly changing by
the hour.</p>
<p>Al Jazeera reported that the negotiations mediated by Egypt appeared
to be stuck over Israel’s refusal to abandon its policy of assassinating
Palestinian resistance leaders, as well as its refusal to return the
body of <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/khader-adnan">Khader Adnan</a>, the hunger striker who died in an Israeli prison last week.</p>
<p>Wednesday’s attacks brought the death toll in Gaza to <a href="https://twitter.com/press221/status/1656337924357488654">at least 21</a> since Israel launched its <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-islamic-jihad-leaders-surprise-gaza-attack">surprise attack</a> on the territory early on Tuesday.</p>
<p>That attack killed three officials of the Islamic Jihad resistance
group along with other residents of the civilian buildings targeted by
Israel.</p>
<p>Israel mounted the surprise attack on the officials “while knowing
they were with their families and children,” human rights group Al-Haq <a href="https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/21489.html">said</a>.</p>
<p>“This deliberate and premeditated act underscores the fact that the
killing of Palestinian families and children is not a mere oversight but
rather a carefully calculated one, and is part of a systemic policy,”
Al-Haq added.
</p>
At least six Palestinian children were among those killed since the Israeli bombing started early Tuesday.
<p>More than 60 Palestinians have been <a href="https://twitter.com/press221/status/1656337924357488654">injured</a> since the beginning of Israel’s assault, according to the health ministry in Gaza.</p>
<p>Amid the truce talks, Israeli attacks and Palestinian counterfire
intensified well into Wednesday evening, including more Israeli
targeting of Palestinian homes.</p>
<p>There were at least eight <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/ashkelon-hospital-treats-8-people-hurt-running-for-bomb-shelters/">injuries</a> in Israel on Wednesday among Israelis running to bomb shelters, but none were reported to be serious.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the terror experienced by Palestinians in Gaza went far
beyond the immediate death, injury and destruction from Israeli air
attacks.</p>
<p>The incessant sound of drones “creates a constant state of terror,
panic and anxiety” among the two million people living there, <a href="https://www.mezan.org/en/post/45891/As-2-million-Palestinians-endure-the-second-day-of-Israel%27s-military-attack-on-Gaza,-Israeli-drones-fly-incessantly-over-the-skies-of-the-Strip-terrorizing-the-population">according</a> to Al Mezan, a human rights group based in Gaza.</p>
<p>The group notes that “between 2000 and 2023, at least 2,148
Palestinians, including 378 children and 86 women, were killed by
Israeli drones.”</p>
<p>Nearly 350 were killed inside their homes, including more than 100
children – underscoring the reality that there is no safe place in Gaza.</p>
<p>At the same time, Israel’s closure of the Erez checkpoint, the only
crossing for people between Gaza and Israel, is another form of violence
against the most vulnerable Palestinians, medical patients who are
unable to leave the besieged territory for lifesaving medical treatment.</p>
<p>Since Tuesday, more than 290 patients and their companions, most of
them living with cancer, have been blocked from leaving Gaza to access
treatment in hospitals in the occupied West Bank and Israel, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MOHGaza1994/posts/pfbid0214eEKP64pKfqX65NmrhwDVKE2GZub6HD2NC8PBZhq8K3fLgXCm2kVsvbpkfoVxAGl">according</a> to the health ministry in Gaza. This is in addition to 15 patients that need life-saving treatment.
</p>
<h2>Political motivations</h2>
<p>There was a growing consensus that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
launched the assault on Gaza purely for domestic political reasons – to
appease the ultra-far-right figures in his fractious coalition,
particularly national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/2023-05-10/ty-article-opinion/gaza-assassinations-were-all-about-israeli-politics/00000188-01fa-dc7e-a3fe-23ff07800000">staff editorial</a> of the Tel Aviv newspaper <em>Haaretz</em>, for instance, Israel’s assassination of Islamic Jihad leaders was “all about Israeli politics.”</p>
<p>But without any clear goals and life in Israel severely disrupted, Israel <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-10/ty-article-live/israeli-army-surprising-no-gaza-rockets-launched-but-anything-could-happen-today/00000188-0436-db4b-afbb-2e7692ea0000#912829362">asked</a> Palestinian resistance factions for an immediate ceasefire.</p>
<p>At one point, Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gallant-we-hope-to-end-campaign-soon-but-are-ready-for-it-to-go-on/">held a live press conference</a> where they attempted to present the attacks on Gaza to the Israeli public as a great achievement.</p>
<p>“We wiped out the leadership” of Islamic Jihad, Gallant claimed,
adding that the Israeli military had “dealt a significant blow to the
assets of this murderous terrorist organization.”</p>
<p>But these assertions were belied by the fact that Islamic Jihad
continued to fire large volleys of missiles towards Israeli targets.</p>
<p>The Israeli leaders’ grandiose claims appeared to be a face-saving
effort to make their real message more palatable. Israel’s bombing
campaign was not over, Gallant said. He added: “I hope that we will
bring it to an end soon, but we are ready for it to be protracted.”</p>
<h2>Resistance unity</h2>
<p>Throughout Wednesday, Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets towards
Israeli strongholds in retaliation for Israel’s attacks in Gaza.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the joint operations room of the Palestinian resistance
groups made clear that Islamic Jihad had the full backing of the other
factions, who stood ready to act should circumstances require it.</p>
<p>While Hamas and Islamic Jihad cooperate and strategize jointly, Hamas
has not entered the confrontation directly. Doing so would all but
guarantee an escalation when Palestinian resistance factions have
indicated that they do not want to intensify a round they did not start.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the joint operations room affirmed that Palestinian resistance groups were “ready for all options.”</p>
<p>The groups emphasized that “targeting civilian homes, encroaching on
our people and assassinating our men and heroes is a red line.”</p>
<p>Israel for its part <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-10/ty-article-live/israeli-army-surprising-no-gaza-rockets-launched-but-anything-could-happen-today/00000188-0436-db4b-afbb-2e7692ea0000#1009145408">has been desperate to keep Hamas out of the battle</a>, undoubtedly aware that its rocket arsenal is even more formidable than that of Islamic Jihad.</p>
<p>Israel’s impatience for a ceasefire is not surprising given that
according to its own military it had managed at one point to intercept <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-10/ty-article-live/israeli-army-surprising-no-gaza-rockets-launched-but-anything-could-happen-today/00000188-0436-db4b-afbb-2e7692ea0000#727147142">just one in five of the 270 missiles</a> the resistance fired.</p>
<span><img src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2023-05/230510_-_gaza1.jpg?itok=5F4X0BC0×tamp=1683754409" alt="" title="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="457" height="287"></span><p>Palestinian resistance factions fire rockets into Israel on 10 May.</p><small>
<span>Stringer</span>
<span>APA images</span></small><p>Palestinian
resistance groups are believed to be capable of firing thousands of
rockets, which could quickly exhaust Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile
system if the situation escalated further.</p>
<p>Each Iron Dome interceptor missile is <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/05/05/the-cost-problem-of-iron-dome-and-the-solution/">estimated to cost</a> at least $80,000.</p>
<p>On top of that, Israel is unable to sustain prolonged disruption to
its civilian economy amid widespread fear and panic among its
population.</p>
<p>Israel briefly <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/flights-briefly-stopped-from-landing-at-ben-gurion-during-rocket-fire-at-tel-aviv/">stopped</a> flights from landing in the Ben-Gurion airport near Tel Aviv as Palestinian rockets reached central Israel on Wednesday.</p>
<p>An extended period of fighting can lead to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/24/israeli-businesses-register-368m-in-losses-during-gaza-violence">hundreds of millions of dollars in losses</a> for Israel’s economy, as it did during Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza in May 2021.
</p>
<h2>Cool-headed resistance factions</h2>
<p>Among those killed in Wednesday’s violence in Gaza was 10-year-old Layan Madoukh. She died and her sister was injured, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/5/10/israel-palestine-live-news-rocket-fire-after-gaza-bombed">according to reports</a>, in an Israeli missile attack on Gaza City.</p>
<p>That attack also killed 16-year-old Yazan Jawdat Elayyan, according to Defense for Children International-Palestine.
</p>
On Wednesday morning, an Israeli drone strike <a href="https://www.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/70936">attacked a group of Palestinian farmers</a> near Khan Younis, killing 25-year-old Muhammad Abu Tuayma.
Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-10/ty-article/.premium/two-palestinians-killed-in-idf-operation-in-west-bank/00000188-041c-dfc3-a5da-5edca8ce0000">killed</a> two Palestinian men on Wednesday morning.
<span><img src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2023-05/230510_-_jenin.jpg?itok=bGEccmrp×tamp=1683754409" alt="" title="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="457" height="304"></span><p>Mourners
carry the bodies of Ahmad Jamal Assaf, 19, and Rani Walid Qatanat, 24,
during their funeral in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, on 10 May.</p><small>
<span>Ahmed Ibrahim</span>
<span>APA images</span></small><p>The Israeli army
said the pair opened fire on occupation forces from a car in Qabatiya, a
town near Jenin, when the Israeli army responded, killing the two.</p>
<p>They were named as Ahmad Jamal Assaf, 19, and Rani Walid Qatanat, 24.
</p>
Israeli fire also critically injured a 17-year-old boy, the Palestinian health ministry <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mohps/posts/pfbid0YbNDR3PFxMkg235DVWuGKAo78tFMzakmkgjuE6HhQpMmhPWRjqZ8fwN7brJvksaal">stated</a>.
<p>In <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-10/ty-article/.premium/israeli-female-soldier-seriously-wounded-in-west-bank-fire-exchange/00000188-05d2-def0-a18a-bdf2103b0000">another incident</a>
in the West Bank town of Tubas, a female Israeli soldier was seriously
injured by shrapnel during a firefight with Palestinian resistance
fighters, early Wednesday, the Israeli military said.</p>
<p>Occupation authorities detained two persons they claim were involved in the incident.</p>
<h2>Deliberate provocations</h2>
<p>Wednesday marked two years since <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/may-2021-attack-gaza">Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza in May 2021</a>, killing more than 250 Palestinians, including at least 60 children.</p>
<p>A repeat of that horrifying bloodshed was not far from anyone’s mind.
But despite claiming to want to end the violence, Israel has repeatedly
sabotaged ceasefires since the end of the May 2021 escalation.</p>
<p>This includes a <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/august-2022-attack-gaza">three-day military confrontation</a> between Israel and Islamic Jihad in August 2022, which <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-kills-10-surprise-attacks-gaza/36066">started</a>
when an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed Taysir Mahmoud
al-Jaabari, a military leader in Islamic Jihad, and Salameh Muharib
Abed, al-Jaabari’s aide.</p>
<p>Israel’s surprise attack on Tuesday was a violation of a <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israeli-officials-demand-more-bloodshed">ceasefire</a> reached after a brief exchange of fire between Israel and Islamic Jihad a week ago following the <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/khader-adnan-who-yearned-live-free-dies-israeli-prison">death</a> of Khader Adnan.</p>
<p>Israeli missiles <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israeli-officials-demand-more-bloodshed">killed</a> a Palestinian civilian during last week’s violence.</p>
<p>That round ended with a truce mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United
Nations. But while Palestinians breathed a sigh of relief, Israel was
already planning its next attack.</p>
<p><em>Tamara Nassar contributed reporting.</em></p>
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