By James Mackenzie and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel is maintaining its battle in Gaza however can also be getting ready for eventualities in different areas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned on Thursday, amid concern that Iran was getting ready to strike Israel in response for the killing of senior Iranian commanders.
“Whoever harms us, we are going to hurt them. We’re ready to fulfill the entire safety wants of the State of Israel, each defensively and offensively,” he mentioned in feedback launched by his workplace following a go to to the Tel Nof air drive base in southern Israel.
Israel has been bracing for potential Iranian retaliation for the killing of a senior normal and 6 different Iranian officers in an airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on April 1. Israel has not mentioned it was accountable however Iran’s supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, mentioned on Wednesday Israel “should be punished and it shall be” for the assault.
Israel chief army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari mentioned civilians weren’t being instructed to make any particular preparations however added Israel was “extremely ready for a variety of eventualities”.
Netanyahu made his feedback as Israeli troops and warplanes began an operation in central Gaza which the army mentioned was geared toward destroying infrastructure of armed Palestinian teams.
Most Israeli troops have been pulled out of Gaza, in preparation for an assault on the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah, the place greater than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering, however combating has continued in varied areas of the enclave.
Residents and militants mentioned fighters have engaged in gun battles with Israeli forces, which attacked the northern and southern areas of the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp. Israeli strikes from air, floor and sea, which thus far have destroyed a number of buildings together with two mosques, had been nearly continuous, they mentioned.
“It was as if the occupation military was launching a brand new battle,” Raouf Abed, 20, mentioned by way of chat app from Deir Al-Balah to the south of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp. “The explosions had been continuous, the sounds got here from completely different instructions,” he mentioned.
“Each time we hope there will probably be a ceasefire, Israel escalates the aggression, as if they’re attempting to strain Hamas by hitting on us, the civilians,” he mentioned.
The combating in Gaza, now in its seventh month, has overshadowed the more and more tense state of affairs additional north the place Israeli troops have engaged in day by day exchanges of fireside with Hezbollah militia fighters throughout the border in Lebanon.
On Thursday, the army mentioned Israeli jets hit Hezbollah army targets within the areas of Meiss el Jabal, Yarine, and Khiam, in addition to a Hezbollah statement put up within the space of Marwahin and one other compound in Al-Dahira in southern Lebanon.
The Iranian-backed militia, which is assumed to have a big arsenal of missiles, has lengthy been thought-about to be some of the doubtless forces that Tehran might use towards Israel however thus far, each side have held again from a full scale confrontation.
Israeli army strikes killed 63 Palestinians and wounded 45 others prior to now 24 hours, the Gaza Well being Ministry mentioned.
Late on Thursday, Palestinian well being officers and Hamas media mentioned an Israeli air strike killed Rudwan Rudwan, the pinnacle of the Hamas-run police drive in drive in Jabalia camp within the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas mentioned Rudwan was additionally in command of supervising the safety of help truck convoys in northern Gaza areas. There was no quick Israeli remark.
A minimum of 33,545 Palestinians have now been killed because the Israeli offensive started, the ministry mentioned, with a lot of the 2.3 million inhabitants displaced and far of the enclave laid to waste.
The battle started when Hamas led an assault on southern Israel, by which 1,200 folks had been killed and 253 taken hostage. Round 130 are nonetheless being held incommunicado in Gaza, Israel says.