News / Palestine

Israel warplanes target multiple Hamas positions in Gaza Strip

Saturday, 26 May 2018 10:56 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 26 May 2018 11:00 PM ]

A picture taken on November 29, 2017, shows smoke billowing in Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli fighter planes have carried out airstrikes on locations to the south of the besieged Gaza Strip, say Palestinian security sources.

One of the Saturday night airstrikes was on a position belonging the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in the southern town of Rafah.

The other was on a position belonging to the the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, located in Khan Yunis.

The Israeli military confirmed the attacks in a statement in which it claimed they were carried out in retaliation to Palestinian's repeated attempts to cross and damage security fences and infrastructure during protests.

Tensions have been running high along the Gaza fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed “The Great March of Return,” demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

PressTV-Israel kills dozens of Palestinians on Gaza 'day of rage'

The situation is volatile near the Gaza fence where protesters have gathered ahead of the inauguration of US embassy in Jerusalem al-Quds.

At least 65 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 others wounded as the Israeli forces used snipers, airstrikes, tank fire and tear gas to target the Gaza demonstrators on May 14.

At least 116 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip since the protests broke out.

The Israeli military frequently bombs the Gaza Strip, with civilians being the main target of such attacks.

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Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian coastal sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014. The military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians. Over 11,100 others were also wounded in the war.

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.

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