GAZA CITY – Fighting between Islamic Jihad and Israel continued for a fifth day, with no progress in Cairo cease-fire talks.
Israel targeted agricultural regions and open spaces, as well as military positions and civilian residences, in the Gaza Strip.
According to officials, fifteen residential buildings have been destroyed since the latest wave of violence began last Tuesday.
According to an official, 51 housing units have been fully demolished, 940 have been partially damaged, and 49 have been rendered unfit for habitation.
The damages are estimated to be worth around $5 million, according to the official.
Video recordings posted on social media by journalists and activists showed Israeli airplanes bombing a number of residences from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip.
Unless Israel is attacking a property with the intent of killing authorities or members of Islamic Jihad, it notifies inhabitants of the impending destruction of the site.
Entisar Al-Masri, 67, said neighbors informed her that the Israeli army had called to ask the family to leave their home.
She informed Arab News that family members fled the residence without taking anything and were in astonishment.
“We went out barefoot, with just the clothes we were wearing, and after half an hour, the rockets rained down and completely destroyed the house,” she explained.
The property was located about 3 kilometers from the Israeli security line in the northern Gaza Strip and was home to five families totaling 19 persons, the most of whom were women and children.
“The house is the paradise of life, and despite accepting that it was God’s will, it is very difficult to overcome the feeling of loss of the place we owned and loved for 40 years,” Al-Masri explained.
In earlier conflicts and rounds of warfare, Israel has been accused of demolishing residential houses in order to put pressure on Palestinian fighters.
“In the face of continued assassinations and bombings of apartments and safe houses, the Palestinian resistance will renew its missile attacks on the occupied cities,” declared Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad.
“The resistance has prepared itself for months of confrontation, and we have high spirits and popular support.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians attended the funeral of military commander Iyad Al-Hassani, who was murdered by Israel in the Gaza Strip on Friday – the sixth high-ranking figure to die since the conflict began.
Following the failure of cease-fire talks, Islamic Jihad proceeded to launch rockets towards Israeli towns and cities on Saturday.
According to several sources mentioned in Arab and Israeli media, Cairo-led negotiations failed due to a lack of agreement on a final text of the declaration.
Palestinian leaders want Israel to promise to stop assassinating Palestinian officials first, but Israel opposes this and says it will only “meet calm with calm.”
