A Palestinian has been killed in an Israeli air raid on the northern Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, amid a fresh escalation between Israel’s military and Gaza fighters.
Imad Nseir, 22, was killed in Beit Hanoun after Israeli warplanes targeted multiple areas in the besieged enclave on Saturday morning after dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.
Israeli aircraft raids on the site of the resistance south of #Gaza City pic.twitter.com/zUZrO3nR4h
— Shehab News (@ShehabAgencyEn) May 4, 2019
The latest flare-up comes after Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in two separate incidents on Friday.
The Iron Dome missile system intercepted dozens of projectiles, the Israeli army said, adding that about 90 rockets were fired from the strip. No casualties were reported on the Israeli side, the army also said.
#Gaza Under Attack Again! Does Israel want another war? by Robert Inlakesh https://t.co/mRpSuS1WZr
— Shehab News (@ShehabAgencyEn) May 4, 2019
According to Palestinian news agencies, Israeli warplanes targeted an agricultural area in Beit Hanoun, a northern town in the Strip, with multiple air raids following the rocket fire.
Israeli forces at the fence with Gaza also shelled several monitoring outposts east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
??#Palestine : In the " World Press Freedom Day ", Israel still targeting Palestinian journalist.
Palestinian journalist Emad Badwan got shot by rubber coated steel bullet while covering the protest at the eastern borders of #Gaza Yesterday. pic.twitter.com/ItEOO80JeE— Shehab News (@ShehabAgencyEn) May 4, 2019
Gaza health officials also said four Palestinians were wounded in one of the Israeli raids.
Sirens went off in the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, and nearby Zikim beach, located two kilometres north of the Gaza Strip, was also closed off.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire from Gaza.
IDF says over 90 missiles launched from Gaza, dozens intercepted
DETAILS: https://t.co/pfwTJBqTeb pic.twitter.com/5j5mIDrOSd
— RT (@RT_com) May 4, 2019
According to the Palestinian Information Center, Hamas spokesperson Abdullatif Al-Qanou’ said: “The resistance will remain present to respond to the crimes of the occupation, and will not allow it to shed the blood of our people.”
The Islamic Jihad movement also released a similar statement, saying “the resistance is doing its duty to protect and defend our people”, adding that it will “respond to the [Israeli] aggression to the fullest extent.”
#BREAKING : Israeli raids on different areas of the #Gaza Strip in the meantime#GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/6zyGVfvD8l
— Shehab News (@ShehabAgencyEn) May 4, 2019
Meanwhile, the Fatah movement in the occupied West Bank has condemned the escalation on the Gaza Strip and called on the international community to “curb the aggression.”
On Friday, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in two separate incidents; two of them were shot dead during the weekly Great March of Return protests near the Israeli fence east of Gaza, while an air raid targeting a Hamas outpost killed two members of the movement’s armed wing.
#Gaza Fishermen Stage Rally Calling for Halt of #Israeli Violations https://t.co/E93x1Ziqir via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/qUILpHTLMB
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 4, 2019
The Israeli army said it had hit the Hamas base after two of its soldiers were injured by gunfire from Gaza at the Israeli fence.
In an attempt to defuse an escalation between Israel and Hamas, Egypt had summoned senior figures from Hamas and the Palestine Islamic Jihad movement on Friday to its capital Cairo.
(Al Jazeera, PC, Social Media)
