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Rocket barrages from Gaza draw Israeli strikes, four Palestinians dead
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, May 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Gaza militants
on Saturday fired some 250 rockets at Israel, which responded with strikes as
a fragile ceasefire again faltered in an escalation that left four
Palestinians dead, including a baby killed in disputed circumstances.
The latest flare-up came with Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the
blockaded Gaza Strip, seeking further concessions from Israel under the
ceasefire.
Israel said around 250 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave and
its air defences intercepted dozens of them.
One woman was seriously injured in a rocket strike on the Israeli city of
Kiryat Gat, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Gaza border, police said.
A man was also hospitalised in Ashkelon, police said, and spoke of other
injuries without providing details. Medics said the woman was 80 and the man
was 50.
A house near Ashkelon was damaged while other rockets hit open areas.
The Israeli army said its tanks and planes hit some 120 militant targets.
They included an Islamic Jihad attack tunnel that stretched from southern
Gaza into Israeli territory, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.
Two multi-storey buildings in Gaza City were destroyed, residents said.
Israel said one of the buildings included Hamas military intelligence and
security offices.
Turkey said an office for its state news agency Anadolu was located in the
building and denounced the strike.
“We strongly condemn Israel’s attack against Anadolu Agency’s office in
Gaza,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ardent defender of the Palestinian
cause, said on Twitter while Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said strikes
against civilians were “a crime against humanity”.
Turkish charity Yardimeli said on social media that the building housing
its premises in Gaza was also destroyed, although Turkish officials were not
able to immediately confirm the claim.
The Gaza health ministry said Israeli strikes killed a 14-month-old baby
and her pregnant mother in addition to two Palestinian men, while 40 were
wounded.
It was not immediately clear if the two men were affiliated with militant
groups.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on Twitter challenged the account of
the mother and her baby being killed in an Israeli strike, suggesting they
may have died from Palestinian fire.
Adraee did not provide more details and the army refused to comment
further.
– Video threat –
As the exchange of fire continued, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu held consultations with security chiefs.
A statement from Hamas ally Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for at
least some of the rocket fire and said it was prepared for more.
Its armed wing distributed a video showing militants handling rockets and
threatening key Israeli sites, including Ben-Gurion international airport
near Tel Aviv.
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Israel said it was closing its people and goods crossings with Gaza as well
as the zone it allows for fishermen off the enclave until further notice due
to the rocket fire.
Egyptian and UN officials were engaged in discussions to calm the
situation, as they have done repeatedly in the past, while the European Union
called for an immediate halt to rocket fire from Gaza.
The UN envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Nickolay Mladenov,
called on “all parties to immediately de-escalate and return to the
understandings of the past few months.”
The United States condemned the rocket attacks on Israel and said
Washington fully supported the Jewish state’s “right to self-defence against
these abhorrent attacks.”
– Visit to Cairo –
The escalation follows a flare-up in violence along the Gaza border with
four Palestinians, including two Hamas militants, killed Friday after two
Israeli soldiers were wounded in a shooting during weekly protests on the
border.
Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fought three wars
since 2008 and fears remain of a fourth.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt and the United
Nations had led to relative calm around Israel’s April 9 general election.
But the past week saw a gradual uptick in violence.
With the ceasefire at risk, a Hamas delegation led by its Gaza head Yahya
Sinwar went to Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials.
The ceasefire has seen Israel allow Qatar to provide millions of dollars in
aid to Gaza to pay salaries and to finance fuel purchases to ease a severe
electricity shortage.
– Eurovision looms –
Several factors may lead Israel to seek to calm the situation quickly.
Netanyahu is engaged in tough negotiations to form a new government
following last month’s election, while Israel is due to host the Eurovision
song contest in Tel Aviv from May 14-18.
The country also celebrates its Independence Day on Thursday.
On the Gazan side, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in the week
ahead.
Palestinians have participated in regular demonstrations and clashes along
the Gaza border for more than a year, calling on Israel to ease its crippling
blockade of the enclave.
At least 271 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the
protests began in March 2018, the majority along the border.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in that period.
Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out attacks
and says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop
infiltrations.
The results of a UN investigation released at the end of February found
that Israel may have committed crimes against humanity in responding to the
border protests, as snipers “intentionally” shot civilians including
children, journalists and the disabled.
Israel rejected the report “outright” but Hamas called for it to be held
accountable.
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