ISRAELI JETS BOMB GAZA CITY
Israeli PM accuses militants of trying to stop peace deal after rockets fired through the night
ISRAEL bombed the city yesterday morning after militants fired rockets through the night, overshadowing the signing of landmark normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in Washington D.C.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militants of seeking to stop the peace deals, Israel’s first with an Arab country since 1994.
But Gaza ruler Hamas warned Israel it faced an escalation if the bombing continued barely two weeks after a renewed Egyptianbrokered truce halted nearly nightly exchanges across the border through August.
The signing of the two agreements at a White House ceremony hosted by United States President Donald Trump prompted protest rallies across the Palestinian territories.
The deals broke with decades of Arab consensus that there would be no normalisation of relations with Israel until it had made peace with the Palestinians and drew accusations of “betrayal” against the Western-backed Gulf states.
At least 15 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip between 8pm on Tuesday and early yesterday, nine of which were intercepted by Israeli air defences, the military said.
One hit the southern port city of Ashdod, wounding at least two people, emergency services said.
The Israeli military said their fighter j ets responded with airstrikes on military targets belonging to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire from the various Palestinian factions operating in Gaza.
But Israel levelled blame at
Hamas and warned that it would “bear the consequences for terror activity against Israeli civilians”.
The rocket fire came as the UAE and Bahrain signed accords establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and was aimed at derailing the deals, according to Netanyahu.
“They want to prevent peace, they won’t. We will hit those who try to harm us, and we will extend a hand of peace to all who reach out to us to make peace.”
The landmark agreements prompted demonstrations on Tuesday in both the city and the occupied West Bank.
Trump said the agreements “will serve as the foundation for a comprehensive peace across the entire region”.
“After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”
He said Israel would enter into similar deals with up to nine other countries, including regional power Saudi Arabia.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned that the deals would “not achieve peace in the region” until the US and Israel acknowledged his people’s right to a state.
“Peace, security and stability will not be achieved in the region until the Israeli occupation ends.”
Abbas warned that “attempts to bypass the Palestinian people and its leadership, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, will have dangerous consequences”.
In Gaza, protesters trampled on and set fire to placards bearing images of the leaders of Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.
Hamas has joined the Palestinian Authority in condemning the UAE and Bahraini accords as a “betrayal” of their cause.
Hamas warned Israel it would face a military escalation yesterday after its warplanes bombed the Gaza Strip following rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.
“The occupation (Israel) will pay the price for any aggression against our people or resistance sites and the response will be direct. We will increase and expand our response to the extent that the occupation persists in its aggression.”