Operation Guardian of the Walls
![]() | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (May 2021) |
Operation Guardian of the Walls | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict | |||||
| |||||
Belligerents | |||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister) Benny Gantz (Defence Minister) Aviv Kochavi (Chief of General Staff) Amikam Norkin (Air Force Commander) |
Ismail Haniyeh (Leader of Hamas) Yahya Sinwar Ziyad al-Nakhalah (Leader of PIJ) | ||||
Strength | |||||
Unknown | |||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
2 killed; 70 wounded[1][2] | 28 killed, 124 wounded[3] |
Operation Guardian of the Walls (Hebrew: מבצע שומר החומות) is an ongoing armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Background
Several days into the 2021 Jerusalem clashes, militant organization Hamas began firing rockets towards Israeli cities. On 9-10 May 2021, over 200 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.[4] On the night of the 10th, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, announced that the attacks would be met with "great force" from the Israeli Air Force in order to ensure the safety of the Israeli civilians that Hamas rockets were targeting.[5]
Later the same day, the cabinet confirmed the beginning of Operation Guardian of the Walls.
Over the first 24 hours, Hamas had fired more than 330 rockets, and reported 137 rockets in under 5 minutes on the 11 May[6]. The rockets were fired from a densely populated area in the Gaza Strip.[7]
Casualties
28 Palestinians, mostly members of armed militant organizations, were mainly killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, 9 of whom being children who were killed by a failed launch attempt by Hamas forces.[8]. in addition 124 more were wounded. A Hamas commander, identified as Mohammed Abdullah Fayyad, was also killed.[9] The Israel Defense Forces have also confirmed that the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket unit, idenfitied as Sameh Abed al-Mamluk, was killed in an air strike.[10]
2 Israelis, an elderly women and her caregiver, were killed after being unable to reach a shelter in time, after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed on their home in Ashkelon.[11][12]
See also
- 2021 in Israel
- 2021 in the State of Palestine
- Lists of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
- Military operations of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
References
- ^ "1 killed, another seriously hurt in Ashkelon by rocket from Gaza".
- ^ "Two dead, over 70 Israelis injured after rockets strike Ashkelon, Ashdod".
- ^ Alster, Ravid, Buhbut, Rosenberg. "The Palestinians: 20 killed, including children, in Gaza; Sources: The IDF killed 11 Hamas activists".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "מבצע שומר החומות ברצועת עזה. צה״ל תוקף בתגובה לירי 150 רקטות לעבר ישראל". ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ staff, T. O. I. "Netanyahu vows Hamas will pay 'heavy price' for firing rockets at Jerusalem". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/10/hamas-fires-rockets-into-israel-in-dispute-over-jerusalem-mosque
- ^ https://www.fox19.com/2021/05/10/more-than-palestinians-hurt-jerusalem-holy-site-clash/
- ^ https://www.news1.co.il/Archive/001-D-440197-00.html
- ^ "Israel launches new air raids on besieged Gaza Strip: Live news". Al Jazeera. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ staff, T. O. I. "Two killed, others hurt by rocket in Ashkelon, amid massive barrages from Gaza". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "2 הרוגים במטח לעבר אשקלון". כאן-תאגיד השידור הישראלי. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ staff, T. O. I. "One killed, one badly hurt by rocket in Ashkelon amid massive barrages from Gaza". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 11 May 2021.