Deadly escalation

Israel’s military carried out waves of retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip yesterday after Palestinian rockets hit Israeli cities as a deadly escalation showed no signs of slowing, raising fears of war. Gazan authorities reported nine Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in the fighting that began Saturday with massive rocket fire from the strip.

Israel, however, disputed their account of the deaths of a pregnant woman and a baby, blaming errant Hamas fire. Three people were killed in Gaza rocket strikes on southern Israel yesterday. One was confirmed as Israeli, but police had not released the nationalities for the other two.

The Palestinian dead included a commander for Hamas’s armed wing who Israel said it targeted due to his role in transferring money from Iran to militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Yesterday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed the military “to continue its massive strikes on terror elements in the Gaza Strip.” He said he had also ordered “tanks, artillery and infantry forces” to reinforce troops already deployed near Gaza.

The flare-up came as Hamas that rules the blockaded enclave, sought further concessions from Israel under a fragile months-old ceasefire. Israel said its strikes were in response to Hamas and Islamic Jihad firing more than 450 rockets or mortars across the border since Saturday, with Israeli air defenses intercepting more than 150.