Minggu, 05 Mei 2019

600 rockets fired from Gaza, Israel responds with airstrikes - CNN

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Netanyahu said: "Hamas bears the responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also for the actions of Islamic Jihad, and it is paying a very heavy price for this."
Israel has so far responded with airstrikes on 260 targets across Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Three Israelis were killed, according to the ZAKA rescue and recovery organization and the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon. Four Palestinian militants were killed in the airstrikes, according to Gaza health officials, as well as two other Palestinian men.
The IDF denied killing a one-year old baby and the baby's pregnant mother in Gaza, and said the deaths were caused by a Hamas rocket that misfired.
A 58-year-old man was killed when a rocket hit his house in Ashkelon, according to a statement from Barzilai hospital. He is the first Israeli to be killed by rocket fire since the end of the 2014 war.
Two gunmen from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad were killed overnight in Gaza, according to a statement from the militant group. Two other Palestinian men died in earlier airstrikes on Saturday.
The UN said it is working with Egypt to try to restore a ceasefire and says both sides are putting at risk efforts to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza.
The escalation began Saturday morning with about 50 rockets fired towards Israel within the course of an hour and continued late into the evening.
The IDF said its Iron Dome aerial defense system had intercepted dozens of the incoming rockets.
In response to the rockets, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes on about 200 militant targets in Gaza, including a tunnel, rocket launcher sites and other military compounds used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ.) The military also struck a mosque in al-Shati in northern Gaza, which the IDF said was used a command and control center by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Palestinians walk by a clothing shop damaged by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday.
Turkey has condemned a strike on a building housing the office of its state-run Anadolu news agency, a building which Israel says is also used by Hamas's military intelligence.
A spokesman for Turkey's President said: "We urge all governments that claim to defend press freedom, including @USEmbassyTurkey to join us in condemning the Israeli government."
Israel announced that it is closing the two border crossings between Israel and Gaza, as well as closing the Gaza fishing zone.
The fishing zone was restricted to 6 nautical miles earlier this week following a rocket fired from Gaza that landed off the coast of Israel.
There was no specific date for when the crossings and the fishing zone would reopen.
Saturday's rocket barrage came less than a day after two militants from Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed in an Israeli strike on Hamas posts in Gaza.

A serious escalation

Israel launched airstrikes Friday after two Israeli soldiers were wounded by sniper fire along the Gaza border.
Two other Palestinians died in Gaza Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with both men succumbing to their wounds after being shot by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza fence, according to health officials.
This is the first serious escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since the Israeli election almost a month ago.
In the run-up to that election, Egypt succeeded in mediating an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, following an exchange of rockets and airstrikes in March.
The agreement, though never publicly acknowledged by Israel, included measures aimed at loosening the restrictions imposed on Gaza's 2 million inhabitants.
Recent pronouncements by Hamas officials have suggested growing frustration that Israel has not moved fast enough to fulfill its pledges, including allowing the transfer of millions of dollars of extra funding from Qatar.
The upturn in violence comes as Israel is preparing to mark Independence Day next week and host the Eurovision Song Contest the following week.
Analysts say Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would much prefer those events to occur in a state of calm rather than one of open conflict.
On Saturday evening, the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, announcing renewed efforts with Egypt to restore calm, called on all parties to immediately de-escalate or risk a conflict with "grave consequences for all."

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/05/middleeast/israel-airstrikes-gaza-rockets-intl/index.html

2019-05-05 13:43:00Z
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430 rockets fired from Gaza, Israel responds with airstrikes - CNN

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Netanyahu said: "Hamas bears the responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also for the actions of Islamic Jihad, and it is paying a very heavy price for this."
Israel has so far responded with airstrikes on 260 targets across Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Three Israelis were killed, according to the ZAKA rescue and recovery organization and the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon. Four Palestinian militants were killed in the airstrikes, according to Gaza health officials, as well as two other Palestinian men.
The IDF denied killing a one-year old baby and the baby's pregnant mother in Gaza, and said the deaths were caused by a Hamas rocket that misfired.
A 58-year-old man was killed when a rocket hit his house in Ashkelon, according to a statement from Barzilai hospital. He is the first Israeli to be killed by rocket fire since the end of the 2014 war.
Two gunmen from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad were killed overnight in Gaza, according to a statement from the militant group. Two other Palestinian men died in earlier airstrikes on Saturday.
The UN said it is working with Egypt to try to restore a ceasefire and says both sides are putting at risk efforts to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza.
The escalation began Saturday morning with about 50 rockets fired towards Israel within the course of an hour and continued late into the evening.
The IDF said its Iron Dome aerial defense system had intercepted dozens of the incoming rockets.
In response to the rockets, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes on about 200 militant targets in Gaza, including a tunnel, rocket launcher sites and other military compounds used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ.) The military also struck a mosque in al-Shati in northern Gaza, which the IDF said was used a command and control center by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Palestinians walk by a clothing shop damaged by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday.
Turkey has condemned a strike on a building housing the office of its state-run Anadolu news agency, a building which Israel says is also used by Hamas's military intelligence.
A spokesman for Turkey's President said: "We urge all governments that claim to defend press freedom, including @USEmbassyTurkey to join us in condemning the Israeli government."
Israel announced that it is closing the two border crossings between Israel and Gaza, as well as closing the Gaza fishing zone.
The fishing zone was restricted to 6 nautical miles earlier this week following a rocket fired from Gaza that landed off the coast of Israel.
There was no specific date for when the crossings and the fishing zone would reopen.
Saturday's rocket barrage came less than a day after two militants from Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed in an Israeli strike on Hamas posts in Gaza.

A serious escalation

Israel launched airstrikes Friday after two Israeli soldiers were wounded by sniper fire along the Gaza border.
Two other Palestinians died in Gaza Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with both men succumbing to their wounds after being shot by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza fence, according to health officials.
This is the first serious escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since the Israeli election almost a month ago.
In the run-up to that election, Egypt succeeded in mediating an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, following an exchange of rockets and airstrikes in March.
The agreement, though never publicly acknowledged by Israel, included measures aimed at loosening the restrictions imposed on Gaza's 2 million inhabitants.
Recent pronouncements by Hamas officials have suggested growing frustration that Israel has not moved fast enough to fulfill its pledges, including allowing the transfer of millions of dollars of extra funding from Qatar.
The upturn in violence comes as Israel is preparing to mark Independence Day next week and host the Eurovision Song Contest the following week.
Analysts say Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would much prefer those events to occur in a state of calm rather than one of open conflict.
On Saturday evening, the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, announcing renewed efforts with Egypt to restore calm, called on all parties to immediately de-escalate or risk a conflict with "grave consequences for all."

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/05/middleeast/israel-airstrikes-gaza-rockets-intl/index.html

2019-05-05 13:11:00Z
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430 rockets fired from Gaza, Israel responds with airstrikes - CNN

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Netanyahu said: "Hamas bears the responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also for the actions of Islamic Jihad, and it is paying a very heavy price for this."
Israel has so far responded with airstrikes on more than 200 targets across Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
One Israeli was killed by a rocket that landed in the city of Ashkelon just north of Gaza, a Barzilai hospital statement said, and two Palestinian militants were killed in the airstrikes, according to Gaza health officials.
The IDF denied killing a one-year old baby and the baby's pregnant mother in Gaza, and said the deaths were caused by a Hamas rocket that misfired.
A 58-year-old man was killed when a rocket hit his house in Ashkelon, according to a statement from Barzilai hospital. He is the first Israeli to be killed by rocket fire since the end of the 2014 war.
Two gunmen from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad were killed overnight in Gaza, according to a statement from the militant group. Two other Palestinian men died in earlier airstrikes on Saturday.
The UN said it is working with Egypt to try to restore a ceasefire and says both sides are putting at risk efforts to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza.
The escalation began Saturday morning with about 50 rockets fired towards Israel within the course of an hour and continued late into the evening.
The IDF said its Iron Dome aerial defense system had intercepted dozens of the incoming rockets.
In response to the rockets, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes on about 200 militant targets in Gaza, including a tunnel, rocket launcher sites and other military compounds used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ.) The military also struck a mosque in al-Shati in northern Gaza, which the IDF said was used a command and control center by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Palestinians walk by a clothing shop damaged by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday.
Turkey has condemned a strike on a building housing the office of its state-run Anadolu news agency, a building which Israel says is also used by Hamas's military intelligence.
A spokesman for Turkey's President said: "We urge all governments that claim to defend press freedom, including @USEmbassyTurkey to join us in condemning the Israeli government."
Israel announced that it is closing the two border crossings between Israel and Gaza, as well as closing the Gaza fishing zone.
The fishing zone was restricted to 6 nautical miles earlier this week following a rocket fired from Gaza that landed off the coast of Israel.
There was no specific date for when the crossings and the fishing zone would reopen.
Saturday's rocket barrage came less than a day after two militants from Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed in an Israeli strike on Hamas posts in Gaza.

A serious escalation

Israel launched airstrikes Friday after two Israeli soldiers were wounded by sniper fire along the Gaza border.
Two other Palestinians died in Gaza Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with both men succumbing to their wounds after being shot by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza fence, according to health officials.
This is the first serious escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since the Israeli election almost a month ago.
In the run-up to that election, Egypt succeeded in mediating an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, following an exchange of rockets and airstrikes in March.
The agreement, though never publicly acknowledged by Israel, included measures aimed at loosening the restrictions imposed on Gaza's 2 million inhabitants.
Recent pronouncements by Hamas officials have suggested growing frustration that Israel has not moved fast enough to fulfill its pledges, including allowing the transfer of millions of dollars of extra funding from Qatar.
The upturn in violence comes as Israel is preparing to mark Independence Day next week and host the Eurovision Song Contest the following week.
Analysts say Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would much prefer those events to occur in a state of calm rather than one of open conflict.
On Saturday evening, the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, announcing renewed efforts with Egypt to restore calm, called on all parties to immediately de-escalate or risk a conflict with "grave consequences for all."

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2019-05-05 12:50:00Z
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430 rockets fired from Gaza, Israel responds with airstrikes - CNN

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Netanyahu said: "Hamas bears the responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also for the actions of Islamic Jihad, and it is paying a very heavy price for this."
Israel has so far responded with airstrikes on more than 200 targets across Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
One Israeli was killed by a rocket that landed in the city of Ashkelon just north of Gaza, a Barzilai hospital statement said, and two Palestinian militants were killed in the airstrikes, according to Gaza health officials.
The IDF denied killing a one-year old baby and the baby's pregnant mother in Gaza, and said the deaths were caused by a Hamas rocket that misfired.
A 58-year-old man was killed when a rocket hit his house in Ashkelon, according to a statement from Barzilai hospital. He is the first Israeli to be killed by rocket fire since the end of the 2014 war.
Two gunmen from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad were killed overnight in Gaza, according to a statement from the militant group. Two other Palestinian men died in earlier airstrikes on Saturday.
The UN said it is working with Egypt to try to restore a ceasefire and says both sides are putting at risk efforts to relieve the suffering of people in Gaza.
The escalation began Saturday morning with about 50 rockets fired towards Israel within the course of an hour and continued late into the evening.
The IDF said its Iron Dome aerial defense system had intercepted dozens of the incoming rockets.
In response to the rockets, the IDF said it carried out airstrikes on about 200 militant targets in Gaza, including a tunnel, rocket launcher sites and other military compounds used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ.) The military also struck a mosque in al-Shati in northern Gaza, which the IDF said was used a command and control center by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Palestinians walk by a clothing shop damaged by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday.
Turkey has condemned a strike on a building housing the office of its state-run Anadolu news agency, a building which Israel says is also used by Hamas's military intelligence.
A spokesman for Turkey's President said: "We urge all governments that claim to defend press freedom, including @USEmbassyTurkey to join us in condemning the Israeli government."
Israel announced that it is closing the two border crossings between Israel and Gaza, as well as closing the Gaza fishing zone.
The fishing zone was restricted to 6 nautical miles earlier this week following a rocket fired from Gaza that landed off the coast of Israel.
There was no specific date for when the crossings and the fishing zone would reopen.
Saturday's rocket barrage came less than a day after two militants from Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed in an Israeli strike on Hamas posts in Gaza.

A serious escalation

Israel launched airstrikes Friday after two Israeli soldiers were wounded by sniper fire along the Gaza border.
Two other Palestinians died in Gaza Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with both men succumbing to their wounds after being shot by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza fence, according to health officials.
This is the first serious escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since the Israeli election almost a month ago.
In the run-up to that election, Egypt succeeded in mediating an agreement between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, following an exchange of rockets and airstrikes in March.
The agreement, though never publicly acknowledged by Israel, included measures aimed at loosening the restrictions imposed on Gaza's 2 million inhabitants.
Recent pronouncements by Hamas officials have suggested growing frustration that Israel has not moved fast enough to fulfill its pledges, including allowing the transfer of millions of dollars of extra funding from Qatar.
The upturn in violence comes as Israel is preparing to mark Independence Day next week and host the Eurovision Song Contest the following week.
Analysts say Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would much prefer those events to occur in a state of calm rather than one of open conflict.
On Saturday evening, the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, announcing renewed efforts with Egypt to restore calm, called on all parties to immediately de-escalate or risk a conflict with "grave consequences for all."

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/05/middleeast/israel-airstrikes-gaza-rockets-intl/index.html

2019-05-05 11:04:00Z
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SKorea says NKorea tested 'new tactical guided weapon. - Fox News

  • e517070a-

    This Saturday, May 4, 2019, photo provided on Sunday, May 5, 2019, by the North Korean government shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, equipped with binoculars, observing tests of different weapons systems, in North Korea. North Korean state media on Sunday said leader Kim observed live-fire drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and unspecified tactical guided weapons, a day after South Korea’s military detected the North launching several unidentified short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's military says North Korea fired a "new tactical guided weapon" during live-fire drills on Saturday, but did not confirm whether it was a ballistic missile.

The statement by Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sunday came hours after North Korean state media showed leader Kim Jong Un observing drills of long-range multiple rocket launchers and what appeared to be a short-range missile fired from a launch vehicle.

The JCS says the North also fired 240 millimeter- and 300 millimeter-caliber multiple rocket launchers from a site near the eastern coastal town of Wonsan and that various projectiles flew from 70 to 240 kilometers (44 to 149 miles) before splashing into the sea.

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2019-05-05 09:55:51Z
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At least 7 Palestinians, 1 Israeli dead as Israel-Gaza tensions escalate - NBC News

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By Yuliya Talmazan, Paul Goldman, Lawahez Jabari and Associated Press

Tensions continued to rise Sunday as civilian casualties increased on both sides of the border after some 430 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza in less than 24 hours, in one of the most intense flareups of violence in the region in years.

The barrage of rockets from Gaza started Saturday morning, prompting Israel to retaliate with airstrikes.

Seven Palestinians, including a pregnant mother and her baby, were killed and fifty more have been hurt in the Palestinian enclave, according to Ashraf al Qudra, a Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman, who named the dead on Facebook.

Israeli authorities said that an early morning rocket killed an Israeli man Sunday outside a home in the coastal city of Ashkelon. More than 80 others have been injured — with many suffering from stress, according to the MDA, Israel's emergency health service.

The man is the first Israeli to be killed by rocket fire in the Israel-Palestine conflict since 2014, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Rocket fire from Gaza is being partially blocked by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system. Spokesman for the IDF, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said the air shield "saved countless lives," intercepting 150 rockets.

Palestinian children stand atop the remains of a building that was destroyed during an Israeli air strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza strip on Sunday.SAID KHATIB / AFP - Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he instructed the IDF to continue "the massive attacks against terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip," adding that he reinforced Israeli presence around the Gaza Strip with armored forces, artillery and infantry.

Netanyahu also asked Israelis in affected areas to strictly observe the "life-saving orders" from military officials.

Sirens wailed along the border region overnight warning of incoming attacks. School has been cancelled in southern Israel Sunday and emergency protocol has been enacted. In Gaza, large explosions thundered across the blockaded enclave overnight as plumes of smoke rose into the air.

The sudden outburst of fighting broke a month-long lull as Egyptian mediators had been trying to negotiate a long-term cease-fire between the two sides, who have fought three wars and several other rounds of conflict over the last decade.

Conricus, the IDF spokesman, said Sunday his side was not aware of any ceasefire talks.

Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets attacked 220 targets inside the Gaza Strip. The military said it struck rocket launchers, tunnel shafts and weapons manufacturing factories belonging to both Hamas, an Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, and the Iranian-funded group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Conricus said the Palestinian mother and child who were killed on Saturday were not killed by an Israeli weapon. "It was from internal fire," he said.

The heightened tensions come as Israel marks Memorial Day and Independence Day this week, when masses head out to ceremonies at military cemeteries and then street parties across the country. The following week it hosts the Eurovision song contest for which large groups of tourists are expected to arrive.

For Gazans, the violence comes ahead of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan that begins Monday.

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, most recently engaged in several days of heavy fighting with Israel in March before Egypt brokered a truce, in which Israel agreed to ease a crippling blockade on Gaza in exchange for a halt in rocket fire.

Residents gather in front of a building that was damaged during a rocket strike on the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon near the Gaza border.JACK GUEZ / AFP - Getty Images

In recent days, Hamas accused Israel of reneging on its pledges as militants began to fire rockets into Israel. Israel in turn accuses Islamic Jihad of instigating the latest round of violence by shooting and wounding two Israeli soldiers Friday. In response, Israeli aircraft carried out retaliatory strikes, killing two Hamas militants.

On Friday, two Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli forces during the weekly protests along Israel-Gaza perimeter fence.

Hamas has hoped that Egyptian mediators could further ease the blockade, which has ravaged Gaza's economy.

For over a year, the Islamic group has orchestrated mass demonstrations each week along the Israeli frontier to draw attention to Gaza's plight. More than 200 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed in the border protests.

Yuliya Talmazan

Yuliya Talmazan is a London-based journalist.

Paul Goldman

Paul Goldman is a Tel Aviv-based producer and video editor for NBC News.

Lawahez Jabari

Lawahez Jabari is a producer based in Tel Aviv. She has covered the Middle East conflict — on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides — for more than a decade. 

Associated Press

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/least-7-palestinians-1-israeli-dead-israel-gaza-tensions-escalate-n1002081

2019-05-05 09:31:00Z
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Death toll rises as Gaza militants fire more than 400 rockets into Israel and Israel responds with airstrikes - The Washington Post

JERUSALEM — An escalation in fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza over the weekend also brought with it a growing death toll Sunday, with reports that six Palestinians, including a pregnant mother and a baby, had been killed by Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave and one Israeli man killed as more than 450 rockets and projectiles were fired into southern Israel from Gaza.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said based on the army’s intelligence it appeared that the pregnant mother and the baby were killed by Hamas’s own rockets and not Israel, though he offered no further proof. The country’s Iron Dome Defense system had saved countless lives in Israel, intercepting at least 150 of the rockets and projectiles that had been fired by Palestinian militant factions since Saturday morning, he said.

The flare-up, the most severe in months, looked set to threaten Egyptian and international attempts to forge a long-term truce arrangement between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza.

In Israel, rocket sirens blared through the day Saturday and overnight sending thousands of Israeli civilians — as far as 30 miles from Gaza — into bomb shelters. Authorities said an Israeli man, 58, was killed in his home in the coastal city of Ashkelon. He is the first Israeli to be killed from Gaza rocket fire since Israel and Hamas fought a deadly 50-day war in the summer of 2014.

[After more than 2,100 deaths, the Gaza war ends where it began]

The Israeli military said in a statement that 70 percent of the rockets fired in the last 24-hours had landed in open areas, but some scored direct hits on homes and buildings. In Kiryat Gat, a town about 20 miles from Gaza, Israeli emergency services said an 80-year-old woman was seriously injured during a rocket barrage. 

In Gaza, health authorities said four men in their twenties and the 37-year-old pregnant woman and child were killed in Israeli airstrikes. There were also reports from Gaza that five residential buildings were destroyed, including one housing Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency. 

Israeli officials said airstrikes had hit more than 100 “terror targets” through Saturday and overnight, including offices belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant faction in Gaza. The army said it had also destroyed an attack tunnel crossing from Gaza into Israeli territory.

Conricus, the Israeli military spokesman, said homes belonging to militants were legitimate military targets and that, in total, some 220 “military targets” had been hit. He also said the army was in the process deploying an armored brigade to the area in preparation for “offensive missions.”

Saturday’s violence comes in the midst of negotiations over a longer-term truce between Hamas and Israel, during which the militant group has tried to assert pressure with rocket fire and incendiary balloons. Hamas is attempting to secure an easing of Israeli restrictions on trade and movement, in return for a lull in violence. 

U.N. peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov called for calm from both sides.

“Continuing down the current path of escalation will quickly undo what has been achieved and destroy the chances for long-time solutions to the crisis,” he said in a statement. “This endless cycle of violence must end, and efforts must accelerate to realize a political solution to the crisis in Gaza.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said Israel would “respond forcefully and swiftly to any attack on the security of our people.” 

Israeli authorities said schools in the southern cities of Beersheba, Ashkelon and Ashdod would be closed Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to hold an emergency meeting with his security cabinet on Sunday afternoon.

In a joint statement, Gaza’s militant factions said the rocket fire was in response to the “targeting and assassination” of their militants a day earlier. “Our response will be tougher and larger and broader in the face of aggression,” they said in a statement. 

The Israeli military reported on Friday that two soldiers were lightly wounded in a shooting incident along its border with Gaza. In response, Israel struck sites belonging to the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, killing two fighters. 

Also on Friday, two Palestinian protesters were killed taking part in ongoing weekly demonstrations at the border fence with Israel, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. 

“It’s a reply to the Israeli targeting of peaceful civilians yesterday by Israeli snipers during the 58th Friday of Great March of Return,” said Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s bureau for international relations, referring to the weekly protests staged in Gaza since last year. “Also, to the procrastination policies of the occupation toward lifting the siege on Gaza.”

[Thousands gather in Gaza to mark anniversary of bloody border protests ]

Gazans have been holding weekly demonstrations along the border, protesting the dire humanitarian situation in the strip that worsens daily and the ongoing land, sea and air blockade imposed by Israel since Hamas forcibly took power in 2007. Egypt opens its border with Gaza only sporadically. 

Hamas spokesman Abdullatif al-Qanoua said the group would continue to “respond to the crimes of the occupation” and “not allow the blood of our people to be shed.” 

Musab al-Buraim, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, said in a short statement that it too was committed to “resistance.” 

Representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad visited Egypt this past week to discuss the understandings reached with Israel to reduce tensions. The Egyptians have spent months trying to forge a long-term truce between the sides to bring calm and ease conditions for 2 million Gazans.

But Saturday’s unrest, disrupting the lives of so many Israeli citizens, could impact attempts by Netanyahu to form a coalition after being reelected for a fifth term. His last government began to unravel after a similar flare-up with Gaza, when then-Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman resigned after calling for a tougher approach to the rocket fire.

[Netanyahu faces pressure for tougher Gaza response]

Standing down from his post in November, Liberman, head of the hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu party, said that agreeing to the cease-fire with Hamas was “surrendering to terror.” He proposed firmer military action against Hamas and other militant factions in Gaza, even if that risked a wider conflict.

In March, Netanyahu’s trip to Washington to meet with President Trump and speak at the annual AIPAC policy conference was cut short after a rocket fired from Gaza slammed into a house in central Israel. 

Rocket fire and airstrikes similar to Saturday’s happen periodically. 

In 2014, a 50-day deadly war between Israel and Hamas saw hundreds of rockets being fired into Israel, reaching as far as Tel Aviv, and massive Israeli aerial bombardments, killing more than 2,000 Palestinians. More than 70 Israelis and one foreign national were also killed.

There were concerns in Israel that unrest could disrupt preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest, an international singing event taking place in Tel Aviv this month. Contestants from across Europe are already in Israel to prepare for the event.

Balousha reported from Gaza. Morris reported from Tel Aviv. 

 

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2019-05-05 09:14:31Z
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