Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Israeli Air Force Launches Multiple Attacks on Gaza Strip
Wed May 27, 2015 12:47AM
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The Israeli air force has started carrying out attacks on the Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian resistance movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad deny launching projectiles into Israel.

Israeli warplanes carried out raids on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, on Rafah in the south, and on Khan Younis early on Wednesday.

At least three raids were also carried out on the Palestinian city of Beit Lahia.

On Tuesday, Hamas and Islamic Jihad denied launching rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, following reports in Israeli media claiming that five rockets had landed in southern Israel hours earlier.

According to the Israeli army, at least one of the rockets hit the town of Gan Yavne with no reports of damages or casualties.


IDF strikes Gaza targets after firing of rocket toward Israel

Israel Air Force strikes four targets in southern Gaza Strip in pre-dawn attack.

By Haaretz
May 27, 2015 | 4:27 AM

IDF aircraft struck four targets in the southern Gaza Strip before dawn on Wednesday, after a rocket was fired from the Strip on southern Israel on Tuesday evening.

The Israel Defense Forces issued a short statement stating it had targeted and hit militant infrastructure targets in the southern Gaza Strip, in response to the rocket fire.

The statement concluded by placing responsibility for the firing of the rocket on Hamas.

Sirens sounded

At least one projectile was fired from Gaza and exploded in an open area near the port city of Ashdod, some 20 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip.

No damage was reported, but medical services said a 15-year-old girl from Ashdod arrived at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon suffering from shock.

The Home Front Command reissued instructions to the public following the rocket fire, highlighting the importance of finding a protected area and remaining there for ten minutes after the alarm sounds.

In Ashdod, schools were set to operate as normal on Wednesday, aside from institutions that don't have safe rooms.


Israel Launches Airstrike on Gaza After Rocket Attack

Israeli aircraft struck a handful of targets in Gaza early Wednesday morning (local time) in retaliation for a rocket attack Tuesday.

"Following yesterday's rocket attack against #Israel, #IDF aircraft attacked 4 terrorist locations in southern #Gaza." Israeli Defense Force Spokesman Peter Lerner said on Twitter at about 9:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Israeli port city of Ashdod earlier on Tuesday, but no casualties or damage were reported, police and the military said.

Israeli officials said they held Hamas responsible for the attack, which was the longest-range militant rocket strike since a truce that ended a 50-day war last year.

It was unclear if there were any casualties from the Israeli airstrike.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday that Hamas committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during last year's war with Israel.

A ceasefire last August ended 50 days of fighting between Gaza militants and Israel in which health officials said more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed. Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians.

"Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of 'collaborating' with Israel and others during Israel's military offensive against Gaza," the human rights group's report said.

In a previous report in March, Amnesty also criticized Israel and accused it of war crimes during the conflict. Apart from the many deaths, at least 16,245 homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. Gaza militants fired thousands of rockets and mortars at Israel.

— Hasani Gittens and Paul Goldman, with Reuters


Israel attacks Gaza strip again

May 27, 2015 8:30 am

GAZA – Israeli aircraft struck a number of sites in the Gaza Strip from the air early on Wednesday, residents and the Israeli military said, after Israel alleged that a ‘rocket’ landed near the port city of Ashdod.

The Israeli military said it struck four ‘terror infrastructures’ in the southern Gaza Strip and that hits were confirmed. There were no reports of any casualties or damage.

Gaza residents said missiles struck several locations throughout the Gaza Strip, including places used as training camps by Islamic Jihad militants on sites that had been Israeli settlements before Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility in Gaza for the rocket launching.

“These strikes are a direct response to Hamas and the aggression against Israeli civilians originating from the Gaza Strip,” military spokesman Lieutenant-Coloner Peter Lerner said in a statement. “The reality that Hamas’ territory is used as a staging ground to attack Israel is unacceptable and intolerable and will bear consequences.”

Last year, Israeli shelling and air strikes in Gaza killed more than a hundred children and battered the small, coastal Palestinian enclave.

The region has been largely quiet since the August ceasefire.

Reconciliation efforts between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas have faltered, adding to hardships and hampering foreign aid donations and the import of building materials.

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