Egyptian mediators in Gaza after latest exchange of fire
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories - An Egyptian delegation arrived in Gaza on Monday seeking to ease tensions, a Hamas security source said, after Israel again attacked the enclave with airstrikes in response to projectiles fired by militants.
Egypt has long served as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip, but further details on the latest visit were not immediately available.
Israel’s army said in a statement that early on Monday its ‘aircraft and fighter jets targeted a number of Hamas targets in the southern Gaza Strip’.
A Hamas ‘training compound and military infrastructures’ were among the targets, the army added.
There were no reports from Gaza of casualties or damage.
On Sunday night, a projectile was launched from Gaza at southern Israel, triggering air raid sirens and sending thousands to bomb shelters.
A spokeswoman for the regional council in Shaar Hanegev, northeast of Gaza, said the projectile apparently hit an open field. At least eight rockets or mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel since January 28 when US President Donald Trump released his vision for resolving the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, according to the Israeli army.
Israel has struck back each time, with no Israelis or Palestinians so far reported injured. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and the tit-fortat fire has raised fear of another conflict.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would ‘not accept any aggression from Gaza’.
“I will not go into detail about all of our actions and plans in front of the media, but we are prepared to take devastating action against the organisations in Gaza,” he said.