News / Palestine

Israeli helicopters target areas in besieged Gaza Strip

Monday, 25 January 2016 6:54 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 January 2016 6:54 AM ]

In this file photo, an Israeli Apache helicopter shoots a missile over the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military helicopters have carried out two aerial attacks against the Gaza Strip in yet another act of aggression against the blockaded coastal territory, reports say.

Palestinian sources said the first airstrike struck an open area just southwest of the city of Khan Yunis, located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Gaza City, in the early hours of Monday, Arabic-language Safa news agency reported.

The second airborne attack targeted a site belonging to Ezzedine Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, south of the city of Dayr al-Balah, located over 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) south of Gaza City.

There were no immediate reports about the possible casualties from the Israeli attacks.

The airstrikes came hours after Tel Aviv claimed that a rocket fired from the coastal enclave had hit the Israeli region of Sha'ar HaNegev. The projectile reportedly did not cause any injuries and there was no damage.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standards of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

The Israeli regime denies about 1.8 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs with proper wages as well as adequate healthcare and education.

In early July 2014, Israel waged a war on the Gaza Strip. The 50-day military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children. Over 11,100 others – including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people – were also wounded in the war.

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