A new step in the series of tensions and incidents that marked Sunday in the Middle East: the Israeli army on Monday claimed responsibility for several air strikes against "Positions" of the Islamic Jihad (JI) in Syria, which left two people dead after a barrage of rockets fired by the armed Islamist group from Gaza led to the closure of schools in southern Israel.
"In retaliation (for rocket fire), Israeli army fighter planes bombed Islamic Jihad targets south of Damascus"said the Israeli military in a statement after midnight. The organization announced on Monday that two of its fighters had been killed by the strikes.
Israeli forces are often accused by the authorities in Damascus of carrying out strikes in Syria, but they rarely claim bombing of the Syrian neighbor, whom they accuse of harboring elements which are hostile to him like the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Iranian forces Al-Quds, and Islamic Jihad.
The " majority " Israeli missiles were "Destroyed before reaching their targets" while others have strayed from their course, a Damascus military source quoted by the Syrian news agency Sana said. And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), an NGO that closely monitors the development of the conflict in Syria, spoke of air strikes "Near Damascus international airport" to "Positions of Iranian Revolutionary Guards", the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also "Positions of Islamic Jihad".
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Bombs, bulldozer and rockets
Israeli forces also bombarded JI positions in the Gaza Strip overnight after a tense day in the impoverished enclave where two million Palestinians under Israeli blockade live. The bombing left several people injured, according to officials in Gaza.
The Israeli army announced it had opened fire on Sunday morning on "Two terrorists" who "Were trying to place an explosive device nearby" of the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel, on the Palestinian side. According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist on the spot, Palestinians have approached in an attempt to recover the body of the alleged assailant before a bulldozer approaches, picks up the inert body and heads back of the border barrier. A video of the incident, authenticated by the AFP, was also circulating on Palestinian social networks, as was that of another bulldozer recently used in the occupied West Bank to disperse demonstrators.
No truce with Israel
The Islamic Jihad, an armed group present in Gaza and which does not enjoy a truce with the Hebrew state, identified the victim as Mohammed Al-Naem. The 27-year-old is a member of the Al-Quds Brigades, his armed wing. A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad called for revenge for his death and the deployment of an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, from which the Israeli army withdrew in 2005.
On Sunday evening, the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for "Rocket fire" towards Israeli localities surrounding the Gaza Strip in order to "Avenge" the "Martyrdom" of one of his fighters. “There were 20 shots from Gaza to Israeli territory. The Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted ten of them. ", the Israeli army reported, without mentioning any casualties.
Two million Palestinians
Israel keeps the bodies of the Palestinians to use it as a bargaining chip with Hamas, the Islamist movement in power in the enclave since 2007. The Hebrew state has imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory for more than ten years. justified by the need to contain Hamas, which it holds responsible for any attack coming from this territory. Two million Palestinians live in the enclave shattered by conflict, poverty and blockade, and wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
