WarSclerotic

“We are prepared for several days of battle with an aerial defense shield, including in the center of the country,” IDF spokesperson Hidai Zilberman told reporters Tuesday morning.

Approximately 50 rockets and mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip at central and southern Israel on Tuesday as of 9:10 a.m., according to the IDF. Soldiers operating the Iron Dome missile defense system shot down 20 of those incoming projectiles, the military said.

The IDF Home Front Command ordered all schools and non-essential businesses closed in the following areas: the Gaza periphery; the Lachish region; the western Negev; the central Negev; and the Shfela region. The IDF also forbade gatherings of more than 100 people.

Schools were also closed in the Dan region, including Tel Aviv, and in the Yarkon region. Businesses were temporarily ordered shut there as well, but were allowed to reopen on Tuesday morning, providing there was a bomb shelter nearby, the military said. In the Dan and Yarkon regions, the IDF forbade all public gatherings of more than 300 people.

It was the first time that the IDF ordered a closure of schools and businesses in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area since the 2014 Gaza war, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge.

Rocket attacks began shortly after the killing of Abu al-Ata early Tuesday morning, most of them focused on Israeli towns and cities surrounding the northern Gaza Strip. Shortly after 7 a.m., rocket sirens sounded in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Rishon Lezion and Holon. An hour later, sirens blared in the southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv and in the nearby suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, one person was lightly injured by shrapnel from rocket fire and six were brought to the hospital with injuries sustained while running to bomb shelters or with panic attacks.

A police officer looks at a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip that struck outside a parking lot in the city of Ashdod on November 12, 2019. (Israel Police)

Several rockets struck the town of Sderot, northeast of the Gaza Strip, causing no injuries. One also hit the city of Ashdod, causing no injuries but damaging a car, police said.

Hospitals and other emergency services were put on high alert in light of the ongoing rocket attacks.

Palestinians inspect the damaged house of Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu Al-Ata after an Israeli attack in Gaza City, on November 12, 2019.(MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

The Ben Gurion International Airport was not affected by the closures. “Ben Gurion Airport is working as usual with no changes to the flight schedule,” a spokesman for the Israeli Airports Authority said.

“We are ready for various scenarios, both offensive and defensive. We are not interested in escalating the situation,” IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Tuesday.

He said the IDF has sent messages to Hamas, through unidentified third parties, urging the terror group to not take part in this round of fighting.

“We are monitoring [Hamas’s] activities and will conduct ourselves accordingly,” he said.

At approximately 4 a.m. Tuesday, Israeli Air Force jets fired precision ammunition at a building in the Shejaiya area of Gaza City where Abu al-Ata was staying, killing him, in a joint operation by the IDF and Shin Bet security service. A woman was also killed and two other people were injured in the strike, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

According to the IDF, Abu al-Ata was planning to carry out rocket attacks and other terrorist activities against Israel and was also directly responsible for several cases of rocket fire over the past six months.

“We know that he was behind most and almost all of the PIJ’s attacks against Israel going back to the 25 of August, including before Memorial Day,” Conricus said, referring to several cases of rocket strikes.

The military said it had sent a number of warnings to Abu al-Ata — through unidentified mediators — to call off his operations, but they went unheeded.

Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Ata (Israel Defense Forces)

“We tried to send a message to Abu al-Ata and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad that we are aware of his actions and to persuade him to stop these attacks. Obviously, these warnings were not successful,” said IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus.

Conricus said the assassination did not signify “a return to previous policies of what has been termed in the media ‘targeted killings.’”

“We conducted the attack because there were no other choice,” he said.

The timing of the IAF strike — in the midst of heated political debate as prime minister-designate Benny Gantz works to form a coalition — drew immediate criticism from opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who questioned the need to conduct a targeted assassination at this time.

Conricus said the IDF asked for permission from Netanyahu, who serves as both prime and defense minister, as well as the security cabinet to carry out the assassination operation a week ago and was waiting for the right time to act.

“Over the last week, we have been waiting for the opportune moment to conduct the surgical strike,” he said.

The army spokesman said the military saw its chance on Tuesday morning when Abu al-Ata was relatively isolated and the risk to civilians was less.

“The missiles were fired from fighter jets with the intention of not bringing down the entire building, but just the floor where he was located,” Conricus said.

Palestinians inspect the damaged house of Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu Al-Ata after an Israeli attack in Gaza city, on November 12, 2019. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

He said he was aware of the reports of additional casualties in the strike, but could not comment on the matter.

Conricus said the military did not believe that Abu al-Ata was acting on the orders of Iran, which backs the PIJ, but was “more a local terrorist who acted unchecked.”

Israeli military officials hinted at having Abu al-Ata on their kill list in recent weeks, leaking his name and picture to the media in what was widely seen as a tacit threat.

The targeted killing of a Palestinian leader in Gaza is a rare event.

In May, during the most serious flareup in recent years, when Palestinian terrorists fired more than 700 rockets into Israel, the IAF killed Hamed Hamdan al-Khodari, who it said was responsible for funneling money from Iran to Gaza terror groups.

Israel and Gaza have engaged in several sporadic rounds of violence over the last two years as the sides attempted to reach a long-term ceasefire.

Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at central and southern Israel on Tuesday morning, triggering sirens in the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs, following an IDF operation that killed powerful Islamic Jihad terror commander Baha abu al-Ata earlier in the day.

Rocket sirens wailed repeatedly starting at 6 a.m. in towns near the Gaza border. An hour later, alarms were triggered in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Rishon Lezion and Holon, as well as in the cities of Gedera and Ashdod, according to the Israeli military.

At approximately 8 a.m., rocket sirens sounded in Tel Aviv itself and in the nearby suburbs of Holon and Bat Yam.

The Iron Dome missile defense system was activated in response to that attack. A video from the scene showed the distinctive puff of smoke caused by the detonation of an Iron Dome Tamir interceptor missile over Tel Aviv.

It was not immediately clear if the missile successfully shot down an incoming rocket, or if the missile self-detonated after Iron Dome operators saw that the rocket was heading toward an unpopulated area.

The IDF Home Front Command ordered all schools and non-essential businesses closed in the following areas: the Gaza periphery; the Lachish region; the western Negev; the central Negev; the Shfela region; the Dan region, including Tel Aviv; and the Yarkon region.

In the Dan and Yarkon regions, the military forbade all public gatherings of more than 300 people. In the other affected regions, the IDF forbade gatherings of more than 100 people.

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage directly caused by the rockets in Israel. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said medics had treated three people for light wounds caused by falls while running to bomb shelters.

A 93-year-old man in the city of Ashkelon, a 24-year-old woman in the city of Gedera and an 18-year-old woman in Ashdod all sustained light injuries while rushing to bomb shelters, MDA said.

In addition, three people were taken to the hospital after they suffered panic attacks caused by the rocket attacks, the ambulance service said.

Several other incoming rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

In this file photo taken on October 21, 2016 Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu Al-Ata attends a rally in Gaza city. (STR/AFP)

The IDF urged residents of southern and central Israel to stay close to bomb shelters.

According to the army, Abu al-Ata, the head of Islamic Jihad’s northern Gaza branch, was responsible for several instances of rocket fire on Israel in the past six months and was planning to carry out more.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Thursday that Iran “continues to lie” about its nuclear program and called on Europe to “stop stalling” and confront the Islamic Republic, as the UN atomic agency reportedly discussed a site in Tehran alleged by Israel to be a secret atomic warehouse.

Netanyahu’s comments also came as Iran resumed uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility in violation of the 2015 international accord limiting its nuclear work.

“A year ago, speaking at the UN, I exposed Iran’s secret nuclear warehouse in Turquzabad. This morning, a special board meeting of the [International Atomic Energy Agency] published its findings on Iran’s activities in the no-longer secret facility. The IAEA now confirms that Iran lied. And that Iran continues to lie,” Netanyahu said in an English-language statement.

The premier was referring to a site in Iran that he flagged during his speech to the UN General Assembly last year. According to Bloomberg, the IAEA’s top inspector has accused Iran of evading attempts to gather information on uranium production at the warehouse, where particles were found earlier this year.

“The IAEA has confirmed that Iran has been violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Netanyahu said. “Iran continues to hide its secret nuclear weapons program.”

Iran’s alleged atomic warehouse in Turquzabad, Tehran. (YouTube screenshot)

He appealed to the world to adopt a more forceful posture toward Iran.

“It’s time for the nations of the world to resist Iran’s aggression and terror. It’s time to snap back sanctions. It’s time to pressure Iran until it changes its ways,” he said. “Iran must stop attacking the nations of the Middle East. Iran must stop threatening to destroy Israel. Europe must stop stalling. It must act against Iranian aggression now.”

Netanyahu released a similar statement in Hebrew, in which he also reiterated that Israel “won’t allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, under any circumstances.”

An unnamed Israeli intelligence official was quoted Thursday by the Kan public broadcaster as saying Iran could break out to a nuclear weapon in under a year.

Iran has not provided an explanation for why uranium was found at the site to the IAEA, which is investigating the facility in the Iranian capital, Reuters reported in September.

In a speech last year at the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu revealed the existence of the warehouse in Tehran, which he said held “massive amounts” of equipment and material that were part of a clandestine Iranian nuclear program.

Netanyahu called on the IAEA to inspect the facility and, in July, Israeli television reported that soil samples from the warehouse turned up “traces of radioactive material,” without specifying the type.

Citing two unnamed diplomats, Reuters reported that the material found at the site was determined to be uranium. One of the diplomats, however, said the uranium was not enriched enough to be used for a nuclear bomb.

In this photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the head of the organization Ali Akbar Salehi, left, shakes hands with Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Cornel Feruta during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, September 8, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP)

The report said it was difficult to determine the origin of the uranium since Iran has not provided answers. It noted it was unclear whether the traces came from material at the site before or after the 2015 international deal was signed to limit Tehran’s nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear accord last year and reimposed stringent sanctions on Iran. Tehran has subsequently taken a number of steps to roll back its commitment to the accord over what it says is a failure by the deal’s remaining signatories to provide economic relief from the sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iran’s announcement that it would resume enrichment at the Fordo plant drew a chorus of concern from the remaining parties to the troubled agreement and the US called for “serious steps” to be taken, warning that Tehran was “positioning itself to have the option of a rapid nuclear breakout.”

Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, who is tasked with forming Israel’s next government, called on the international community to tighten sanctions on Iran over the renewed work at Fordo.

The development “is another wake-up call for the world — we must increase pressure and tighten sanctions,” Gantz tweeted. “Iran poses a threat to world peace. Iran poses a threat to stability in the Middle East. Iran poses a threat to Israel.

“There is no such thing as politics when it comes to the Iranian threat — here, we are one, committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” he added.

In September, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iran was obstructing the investigation into the Tehran site identified by Netanyahu. Unidentified diplomats told the newspaper Iran was refusing to provide answers to questions posed by the IAEA, in what was apparently the first instance of Tehran failing to cooperate with inspectors.

The diplomats told the newspaper that the uranium traces were likely remains from Iran’s past experimentation in nuclear weapons development. Iran has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons, though Israeli and Western intelligence strongly dispute those assertions. The diplomats said the material’s existence at the site was unlikely to indicate new work on weapons development, but would be a breach of Iran’s commitment to non-proliferation.

Iran has denied that the site was a nuclear facility or served any secretive purpose. In an initial response to Netanyahu’s UN speech, Iranian state media claimed the warehouse was a recycling facility for scrap metal.

Agencies contributed to this report.