Jerusalem: On Tuesday, Israel and Hamas swapped heavy fire, with 22 Palestinians killed in Gaza, in a tense increase between the bitter opponents sparked by unrest at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
According to the local health authorities, 9 children were among those killed in the blockaded Gaza Strip that is controlled by the Islamist movement and 106 people there were wounded.
Since Monday, more than 200 rockets have been fired by Palestinian militants towards Israel, with over 90 per cent blocked by its Iron Dome missile defence system, army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said. At least six Israelis have been wounded.
The Conricus told the reporters, Israel has reacted with 130 strikes carried out by fighter jets and attack helicopters on military targets in the enclave, killing 15 commanders from Hamas, and of the group Islamic Jihad.
On Tuesday, more rockets were propelled from the coastal enclave, as Hamas’ Qassam Brigades armed wing vowed it would turn the southern Israeli community of Ashkelon into “a hell”.
Conricus reported Israel had no confirmation its strikes had struck Gaza civilians, or whether the casualties there were caused by Palestinian rockets misfiring.
He listed the sites hit by Israel as weapons production and warehouse facilities, militant training areas and the home of a Hamas commander, among other targets.
Anxieties in Jerusalem have flashed into the city’s worst violence since 2017 since Israeli riot police fought with large crowds of Palestinian worshippers on the last Friday of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Nocturnal anxiety since then at the Al-Aqsa compound in annexed east Jerusalem has left hundreds of Palestinians injured, drawing international calls for de-escalation and sharp criticisms from across the Muslim world.
AFP was told by the diplomatic sources that Egypt and Qatar, who have negotiated past Israeli-Hamas conflicts, were trying to calm pressures.
Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, firmly rebuked the rocket attacks by Hamas, saying they “need to stop immediately”.
“All sides need to de-escalate, reduce tensions, take practical steps to calm things down,” he said.
Post Your Comments