A8| Thursday, November 14, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
attacks in recent months and
had jeopardized efforts to reach
a cease-fire with Hamas. Israel
also said he had been planning
further imminent attacks.
Egypt is currently leadingnegotiations for a cease-fire
between Israel and Islamic Ji-
had, a spokesman for the Gaza-
based group said. Egypt and
the United Nations have helped
mediate a number of cease-fires between Israel and Gaza
militant groups in the past.
Israeli Prime Minister Ben-
jamin Netanyahu, who autho-
rized Mr. Abu Al-Ata’s killing,
on Wednesday said his coun-cal authorities said.
Some people were injured
as they ran to bomb shelters,
while the impact of rockets in-
jured three, the officials said.
The Trump administration con-
demned the attack on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday, Israel’s
military said Hamas hadn’t
joined forces with the Iranian-
backed Islamic Jihad, a prospect
that would deepen the conflict.
Israel’s military has hit a
wide range of Islamic Jihad
targets since Tuesday, includ-
ing one of its headquarters
and a rocket-manufacturing
facility, carrying out further
strikes Wednesday morning.
Israel said it killed Islamic
Jihad’s Mr. Abu Al-Ata because
he had planned the majority ofIsraelis in Ashkelon, above,
take cover during a rocket
attack, while Palestinians in
Khan Yunis, right, view a house
destroyed in an Israeli airstrike.SAID KHATIB/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGESWORLD NEWS
try isn’t interested in escala-
tion but would do everything
to defend itself.
Mr. Netanyahu also threat-
ened more targeted killings in
the Gaza Strip.
“There is a genuine change
here in the equation because
the terrorist leaders and the
last of their militants now know
that we can reach them in their
hiding places with surgical pre-
cision and take action against
them,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
The prospect of a broader
conflict, however, is likely to
weigh on talks to form a new
coalition government in Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu’s main rival,
former military chief Benny
Gantz, who said he supported
the strike against Mr. Abu Al-
Ata, had appeared to be headed
toward forming a minority gov-
ernment that would partially
rely on the support of Israel’s
Arab parties. That now seems
less likely, given that officials
from the Joint List, a coalition
of Arab parties, have said they
oppose the operations in Gaza.
Speaking in Sderot, an Is-
raeli town near Gaza, Mr.
Gantz said he wouldn’t allow
the current escalation to affect
his political calculations. He
also said Israel should con-
tinue hitting militants in Gaza
until they are strongly de-
terred from attacking Israel in
the long term.
Speaking in Israel’s parlia-
ment on Wednesday, Mr. Ne-
tanyahu singled out and lam-
basted Arab lawmakers who
once called him and other Is-
raeli military officials “war
criminals” over Israel’s previ-
ous war in Gaza in 2014.
Israel’s military on Wednes-
day said it expected Islamic Ji-
had to continue firing rockets
at the country’s south. Its Iron
Dome defense system has
fended off dozens of attacks,
with an interception rate of
more than 90%, it added.
Israel’s military said it also
has bolstered forces near the
Gaza border as it suspects Is-
lamic Jihad militants might
try to infiltrate the country.
—Nizar Sadawi in Gaza City
contributed to this article.TEL AVIV—Militants in
Gaza fired rockets into Israel
for the second straight day,
raising the risk of a wider con-
flict as Israel continued its
own strikes on the second-
largest armed group operating
in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel’s foreign ministry
said the Palestinian group Is-
lamic Jihad has fired more
than 360 rockets from the
Gaza Strip, threatening Israel’s
attempts to reach a long-term
cease-fire with the Hamas
group that controls the area.
The attacks began Tuesday
morning, after Israel’s military
killed Islamic Jihad’s senior
leader, Baha Abu Al-Ata, in a
targeted airstrike. Israeli offi-
cials said Islamic Jihad op-
posed the cease-fire initiative.
The latest escalation—the
largest rocket attack since
May, when Islamic Jihad and
Hamas fired more than 600
projectiles into Israel over two
days—is also complicating
talks to form a new coalition
government in Israel between
centrist politicians and smaller
Arab parties after two incon-
clusive elections this year.
A total of 24 people in Gaza
have been killed since the
strikes began on Tuesday,
Gaza’s Health Ministry said. A
number of those killed appear
to be Islamic Jihad militants,
according to statements re-
leased by the group.
More than 73 Palestinians
have been injured, the minis-
try said. Israel said it has been
targeting Islamic Jihad mili-
tants who are seen preparing
to fire rockets at Israel.
Medical authorities in Israel
have treated at least 63 peo-
ple, including an 8-year-old
girl who lost consciousness
while fleeing from a rocket on
Tuesday and who remains in
critical condition, Israeli medi-
BYDOVLIEBER
Gaza Militants, Israel Escalate Attacks
Rockets, retaliation
raise the risk of wider
conflict and threaten
cease-fire attempts
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