Israeli jets bombard Gaza in response to Hamas rockets in severe escalation

JERUSALEM — Israel struck more than 140 targets in Gaza in response to a barrage of rockets from the Palestinian territory, its military said Thursday, in a significant escalation even as negotiations took place on a longer term cease-fire.

Militants in the strip fired a more than 150 rockets and mortars into Israel between Wednesday evening and Thursday, the Israeli military said. Most were intercepted or fell on open ground but seven Israelis were injured after some hit built up areas.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said a 23-year old pregnant mother and her 18-month-old daughter were among the three Palestinians killed. The other was a Hamas militant.

The Israeli military said it only struck military targets.

The escalation, the worst since 2014, came after officials from Hamas, the militant group which controls Gaza, met Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss a cease-fire. Some analysts put the escalation down to a show of force by Hamas as talks tookplace.

“As we approach a potential agreement it’s extremely important for Hamas to deliver the message that we are not going there because we are weak,” said Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, the former director general of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs. Israel in turn needs to send the message that there’s a “price to pay,” he said.

The flare up, however, will distract from finding a more lasting solution to Gaza’s long term economic problems, he said. The 140 square mile-strip, under blockade by Israel for more than a decade, suffers from chronic unemployment and a lack of infrastructure and services.

The United Nations representative to the peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said he was “deeply alarmed” by the latest events and warned that it risks turning into a “conflict that nobody wants.”

“If the current escalation however is not contained immediately, the situation can rapidly deteriorate with devastating consequences for all people,” he said in a statement.

But on Wednesday morning, sirens warning of incoming rockets continued to blare in Israeli communities around Gaza.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said reinforcements had been sent to the area and that the military was prepared for various “eventualities.”

Hazem Balousha in Gaza City contributed.

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