Israeli fighter jets, tanks carry out airstrikes, artillery shelling against Gaza Strip

Rasa - Warplanes and tanks belonging to Israeli regime forces have carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling on the Gaza Strip in yet another act of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal enclave.

News ID: 427815

Date: 02 March 2017 - 23:41

RNA - The Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday that aircraft and a tank targeted two posts belonging to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

A source with Hamas confirmed that the Israeli aerial attacks had hit a lookout post in northern Gaza.

The attacks came after the Israeli army claimed that "shots were fired at (Israeli) forces carrying out routine activities” near Gaza.

Also on Monday, at least four people sustained injuries after Israeli military aircraft carried out a string of airstrikes on areas in the Gaza Strip.

The airstrikes came shortly after the Israeli military claimed that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip had hit an open area in southern occupied territories, but caused no injuries or damage.

Last month, the Gaza-based al-Mezan Center for Human Rights expressed concern about Israeli airstrikes, saying the rise in the attacks could be leading up to a wide-scale military offensive.

It called on the international community to “act promptly against Israel’s military escalation.”

The Israeli military frequently targets the Gaza Strip, with civilians being the main victims of such attacks.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014. The 50-day military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children. Over 11,100 others -- including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people -- were also wounded in the war.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.

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