Israel strikes Gaza tunnels, Hamas responds by firing dozens of rockets as violence flares

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Palestinian protesters run to cover from teargas fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes with Israeli troops along Gaza's border with Israel, east of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, April 6, 2018. Palestinians torched piles of tires near Gaza's border with Israel on Friday, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the air and drawing Israeli fire that killed one man in the second large protest in the volatile area in a week. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Palestinian protesters run to cover from teargas fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes with Israeli troops along Gaza’s border with Israel, east of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip .(AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The Israeli military struck several militant sites in Gaza early Saturday in response to renewed violence along the border, after which Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets toward Israel.

There were no reports of casualties on either side but the exchange threatened to spark a further conflagration after weeks of tensions along the volatile border.

The military said its jets targeted a Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip as well as other military compounds, including those involved in the spate of incendiary kite and balloon attacks. Even as the airstrikes were being carried out, the military said the first of some 31 rockets were fired at Israel. It said five of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system.

In a relatively rare admission, Hamas said it fired the rockets to deter Israel from further action. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said it was an “immediate response” that was meant to “deliver the message.”

Israel has been warning Hamas in recent weeks that while it has no interest in engaging in the kind of conflict that led to the sides fighting three wars over the past decade, it would not tolerate Gaza militants’ continued efforts to breech the border and its campaign to devastate Israeli border communities with incendiary attacks.

On Friday, thousands of Palestinians gathered near the Gaza border for their near-weekly protest. A 15-year-old Palestinian who tried to climb over the fence into Israel was shot dead. Later the military said an Israeli officer was moderately wounded by a grenade thrown at him.

The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza has led border protests aimed in part at drawing attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

The demonstrations have been fueled in large part by pervasive despair caused by the blockade, which has caused widespread economic hardship.

Over 130, mostly unarmed, Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since protests began on March 30.

Israel says it is defending its sovereign border and accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover for attempts to breach the border fence and attack civilians and soldiers.

In a statement, the military said Hamas’ activities “violate Israeli sovereignty, endanger Israeli civilians and sabotage Israel’s humanitarian efforts that aim to help Gazan civilians.”

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3 responses to “Israel strikes Gaza tunnels, Hamas responds by firing dozens of rockets as violence flares”

  1. An Orab online newspaper asked its readers: “Do you believe equitable
    democracy can exist in Orab states?” An overwhelming said no http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/22456

    1. Niemals Avatar

      Due to a new ‘Detected as spam’, I start again with The correct question should be; ‘Do you believe that a equitable democracy still exist in Israel?’

      Sometimes I wonder why the so-called anti-Zionists have the upper hand on the social media?
      It’s enough to take a look in Twitter and see that it is dominated by anti-Semits categorizing itself as anti-Zionists to appear as rooms-clean, as Donald Trump twits.
      The salafists that promising us that Islam will dominate the world have less attention than the anti-Zionists, https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/003fc9e575d427f65b6545285ba983e38cee41be0fd00020947cc69175c51f2c.jpg
      Now it remains to clarify the terms used by these experts in the subject.
      “Zionist rag will make you anti-Semit”, “Kosher agency says it can no longer vouch for Starbucks stores”.
      “DNA Science Proves: Ashkenazi Khazar Jews (90+% of Modern Jewry) Are NOT Semitic People, Not The Descendents of the 12 Tribes of Israel” – Why do they feel insulted when they are categorized as antisemits?
      I heard that Jews don’t exist, the “Khazar myth” – the hypothesis has been used at by anti-Zionists to challenge the idea Jews have ancestral ties to ancient Israel, and has also played a role in antisemitic attitudes. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d3bfa791a5be4ae7d2d3d7e4662d0e0e4dd69a2d3f79d3326e04bcd3beb3bec5.jpg
      The conversion of Khazars to Judaism assumed to be proof of the existens of Judaism, however not a nation of Jews.

      Imagine what a surprised it was for me to hear from a Jew the term https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9089b00bbfabaf573a847979f7a4c4a1dc86b23bbb0ffea858a00e053a05fad6.jpg It must be a little awkward when you realize that this jew Ben Campen point out that we hade Jews in the Wehrmacht, however they where just “Half Jew”… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/96459b4991134446c1614e7c3e92825be3ac0eeb0ffd9c78be1f09c83a5f52fe.jpg

    2. Niemals Avatar

      72yo Florida man arrested for arson attempt told cops he planned a ‘small BBQ’ to ‘kill all Jews’
      Published by RT: 15 Jul, 2018 01:24
      Fake News or not Fake News, enough for antisemites to meet and let go of their comments…..
      https://www.rt.com/usa/433134-florida-condo-arsonist-jews/
      On abc news, you will find more datails without interpretations of the police report made by antisemites
      https://abcnews.go.com/US/miami-man-arrested-alleged-arson-attempt-wanted-kill/story?id=56583194

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