Israel launches attacks on Gaza, West Bank

Rasa - The Israeli military has launched fresh attacks on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

News ID: 425906

Date: 19 December 2016 - 23:45

RNA - Israeli forces on Monday fired shells at a position belonging to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza, claiming that the attack was in response to an earlier assault by suspected Hamas members.

The Israeli military claimed that unknown assailants had targeted Israelis along the closed border between Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.

There was no confirmation from Hamas, neither was there any report of casualties from both sides.

The Israeli regime holds Hamas responsible for all rocket attacks from Gaza, although the enclave is home to several other groups with a rich history of resisting the Israeli aggression. Such accusations of cross-border fire have led to three Israeli wars on resistance fighters since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2008. More than 2,400 Palestinians were killed in the last war Israel imposed on Gaza two years ago.

On Monday, the Israeli military also said its forces had attacked overnight several positions south of the West Bank. It claimed that the attacks led to the confiscation of 12 weapons manufacturing machines while two Palestinians were also arrested.

Israel has intensified its raids in the West Bank since a new wave of uprising against the regime began in the territory over a year ago. The unrest was triggered by an alleged Israeli plan for changing the status quo of the al-Aqsa Mosque, a highly revered place for Muslims across the world.

About 250 Palestinians and three dozen Israeli settlers and troops, as well as a number of foreigners have been killed since the violence erupted in October 2015.

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