Several rockets were launched this Wednesday from the Gaza Strip toward Israelafter Israeli operations that left 16 dead since Tuesday in this Palestinian enclave, and another two dead in west bank.
According to a senior Israeli security official, “more than 60 rockets” they were thrown from Gaza into Israeli territory in 45 minutes.
The Army of Israel reported in a brief statement that the warning sirens sounded in the cities of Ashkelon and Sderotclose to the border with the Palestinian enclave.
Shortly after, warning sirens were activated in the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported before the launch of the rockets that one person was killed in a new Israeli shelling on Wednesday.
The Israeli Army reported that it struck a base for launching rockets from the Islamic Jihadafter having attacked members of the Palestinian movement in Khan Younes, in the south of the territory.
These new attacks come after Israel bombarded Gaza on Tuesday in an operation against Islamic Jihad, which killed three members of the organization and 12 civilians, four of them children, according to a report by local authorities.
Islamic Jihad, considered a group “terrorist” by Israel, the European Union and the United Statesreported that several of its fighters were killed in the shelling, which the Israeli army described as leaders of the movement involved in anti-Israeli operations.
The Gaza Strip, a narrow and impoverished Palestinian territory, has 2.3 million inhabitants.
It has been ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since 2007 and is under a blockade by Israel. Since 2008 it has been the scene of several wars with Israel.
Gaza businesses were closed on Wednesday and Monther Abdullah, a resident, said people “Expect the worst.”
“I feel that a war is coming and there is tension and fear, either here or there (in Israel),” this 50-year-old man told AFP.
Two dead in the West Bank
In west banka territory occupied by Israel Since 1967, Israeli forces on Wednesday killed two Palestinians accused of shooting at soldiers.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the men as Ahmed Jamal Tawfiq Assaf, 19, and Rani Walid Ahmed Qatanat, 24, and said they “died by shots from the Israeli occupation” in the town of Qabatiya.
In addition, a 17-year-old adolescent, wounded by shots to the abdomen and chest, is in a state “very serious”according to the same source.
In turn, the Israeli army said in a statement that “Aggressors opened fire from a vehicle at Israeli soldiers” during a raid.
“The soldiers fired back at the two assailants and killed them”added the army, specifying that an M-16 rifle and a revolver were found in the place.
“A devastating response”
Following Tuesday’s shelling, Israeli authorities urged residents of Gaza border towns to stay close to bomb shelters, fearing Palestinian rocket fire.
Schools were closed in a 40 km radius around the Palestinian enclave, according to Israeli public radio.
Israeli security officials are preparing “for any escalation scenario, on more than one front”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday.
“I say to our enemies: any escalation on their part will be met with a devastating response.”
These incidents take place less than a week after the announcement of a truce brokered by Egyptafter a new escalation of violence between the Israeli army and Islamic Jihad.
The clashes broke out after the death of Khader Adnan, a leader of that Islamist movement who spent more than 80 days on hunger strike in an Israeli prison.
In reaction to the Israeli shelling on Tuesday, Egypt denounced the “aggressions” that “could make the situation get out of control in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
The United States urged “all parties to a de-escalation” and UN emissary Tor Wennesland called it “unacceptable” the death of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Since the beginning of the year, 126 Palestinians have died and 19 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have also died, according to an AFP count based on official sources from both parties.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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