Israel launches new raids on Hamas targets in Gaza
GAZA - Israel again attacked Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday in response to what it said were continued launches of “explosive balloons” from the Palestinian territory.
Dozens of helium balloons laden with incendiary material have been deployed in recent days in a bid to pressure Israel to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip and allow new economic projects. Israel also said it will stop shipments of fuel into Gaza in response. Israel, which cites security threats from Hamas for its land and naval blockade, earlier retaliated by closing the Strip’s main commercial crossing and striking Hamas military facilities with warplanes, attack helicopters and tanks. The Israeli army said in a statement on Thursday it struck “a military compound, underground infrastructure and observation posts” inside Gaza. Hamas’s “naval force” was also hit, it said. “The attack was carried out in response to balloons with explosives and incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory in the past week ... We hold Hamas responsible,” the Israeli army said. Reports from Gaza said the latest attacks hit sites in Rafah to the south and Beit Hanoun in the north.
A Gaza security source told the AFP news agency that Israeli warplanes carried out several air attacks on Hamas sites. The attacks caused severe damage to some infrastructure and damage to citizens’ homes, but no one was hurt. An Israeli warplane fired a missile that landed in a school run by the UN refugee agency (UNRWA) in alShati refugee camp, western Gaza city, said a Palestinian security source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The missile did not explode but caused damage to the building. The source added the school had been closed. It was unclear if anyone was injured in the strike. Hamas denounced the latest attacks on Thursday. “These aggressive policies aim to exacerbate the crises our people in Gaza are enduring to paralyse their daily life and to disrupt the efforts of combating coronavirus amid international and regional silence,” Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesperson for Hamas, said in a statement. (Al Jazeera)