Militants in Gaza Fire Dozens of Rockets at Southern Israel

A series of retaliatory attacks between the Israeli army and armed Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip has once again brought southern Israel and the Gaza Strip to a state of semi-war since the evening of Monday, November 21. On one side, Israeli fighter jets and tanks have attacked dozens of 'terrorist targets' in Gaza, while on the other side, militants from Palestinian organizations have fired dozens of rockets towards southern Israeli settlements. Israeli Colonel Ronen Manlis wrote on Twitter that the fighter jets targeted a 'wide range of terrorist objectives.' He added, 'If Gaza is destroyed, Hamas is responsible for it because attempts to harm citizens are unacceptable, and we will respond with force.' However, spokespeople for the military branches of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad accused the Israeli army of initiating a new round of crisis, warning that 'if the Zionist enemy's aggression continues,' they are prepared to use 'longer-range rockets' against cities further in Israel's center. Some Israeli media report that over 200 rockets were fired from Gaza in the first three hours of the crisis, with the Iron Dome defense system intercepting 60 rockets. Israeli media continuously report the sounding of sirens warning of incoming rocket attacks, urging residents of Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, settlements around Beersheba, and surrounding areas of the Dead Sea to go to shelters. Meanwhile, Palestinians confirmed that three Palestinians were killed in Gaza and that damage was inflicted on the strip; the Israeli army referred to the Palestinian casualties as 'saboteurs belonging to military branches.' Severe tensions erupted after the Israeli army confirmed that a senior officer was killed and another officer was wounded in a 'covert operation' in eastern Gaza. The Israeli army announced that Lieutenant Colonel 'M' who commanded a 'special operations unit' lost his life during the execution of a secret plan that faced 'complications.' Palestinian media and some social networks claimed that the Israeli army's plan was to abduct Nour Barakeh, a Hamas leader. Yair Lapid, one of the leaders of the Israeli opposition, also referred to this in a radio interview on Monday morning. However, the Israeli army's censorship department urged Israeli users on social media to refrain from mentioning the mentioned plan and the name of the deceased officer due to the importance of the name of the 'elite unit,' to avoid giving 'sensitive information' to the enemy. Leaders of Palestinian organizations stated that the 'neutralization' of the Israeli unit's plan to abduct Nour Barakeh was due to his and his guards' vigilance, labeling it a failure for the Israeli army. These events were significant enough that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to Paris to attend the centenary ceremonies of the end of World War I and returned to Israel on Monday morning. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu held a meeting on Monday evening with Avigdor Lieberman, the Defense Minister, and military commanders of the Israeli army to review the situation in the Gaza Strip. Despite this crisis, the latest reports on Monday evening indicate that leaders of Palestinian organizations are considering an unwritten commitment to a ceasefire; although both they and Israel claim they are prepared to 'defend' themselves. The semi-war conditions in the region have repeated while, with Israel's agreement, Qatar and Egypt, the Emirate of Qatar began paying overdue salaries to thousands of Hamas government employees in Gaza starting Saturday, November 19, and in return, Hamas committed to calming protests at the Gaza-Israel borders. In recent days, Benjamin Netanyahu defended his agreement to allow $90 million from Qatar to assist the people of Gaza, which could also contribute to 'Israel's security.' $15 million of this amount was transferred to the strip by a Qatari delegation in recent days.