Illustrative image. Source: the PIJ military media.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that targeted Jerusalem city on May 12 afternoon.
The Gaza-based armed factions said that it had launched two main barrages, aimed at Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other cities in central Israel.
Israeli military sources said that two rockets fired from Gaza toward Jerusalem were intercepted, one by the Iron Dome and the second by David’s Sling. However, rocket sirens were sounded in the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin. An impact was also reported in the outskirts of the settlement. However, there were no losses.
Other rocket attacks targeted the city of Sderot and a number of nearby settlements in southern Israel. Some of the rockets were reportedly intercepted.
In response to the attacks on central and southern Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new wave of strikes on the Gaza Strip. The targets included several command centers and headquarters of the PIJ.
One of the command centers, struck in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, was used by Ahmed al-Hashash, who is the commander of the PIJ’s rocket force in the area, according to the IDF.
Israel has already assassinated five senior commanders of the PIJ in the framework of Operation Shield and Arrow that started on May 9.
The Israeli military operation has so far claimed the lives of 31 Palestinians and wounded dozens others, health officials in Gaza said.
Efforts to broker a ceasefire are not going well. IDF Brigade General Ghassan Alian, the military liaison to the Palestinians, informed Egyptian mediators that Israel was freezing ceasefire talks due to renewed rocket fire from Gaza by the PIJ. According to the Israeli Ynet news website, Brig. Gen. Alian said that Israel will not negotiate while under attack.
Meanwhile, a source in the PIJ told the Saudi-based Al-Hadath TV that “If the Israeli escalation continues, we won’t stop before the Flag March” in Jerusalem next week.
The unnamed source is also quoted saying that PIJ wasn’t informed of Israel’s decision to halt ceasefire talks. According to him, Egypt presented a proposal and the organization is waiting for the Israeli response.
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