Israeli jets launch fresh airstrikes against Gaza Strip

Rasa - Israeli warplanes have carried out several airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip amid escalating tensions in the occupied territories following US recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s so-called capital.

News ID: 435405

Date: 18 December 2017 - 17:58

RNA - The Israeli aerial assaults hit positions belonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, early on Monday.

According to Palestinian sources, the air raids hit Qassam’s al-Bahariya position in al-Waha area, northwest of Beit Lahia, and Asqalan position in northern Gaza.

Qassam position in al-Sudaniya in northwestern Gaza was also bombed during the air raids.

No casualties have been reported.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said in a statement that the regime’s warplanes targeted a training camp in northern Gaza, claiming that the attack destroyed six separate facilities belonging to Hamas.

The attacks come after Israeli media quoted the regime's military as saying that two rockets had been fired at Israel from Gaza on Sunday night.

Police said no damage or injuries were reported while Israeli media said a photograph shared on social media showed damage caused to a house.

The airstrikes come amid rising tensions in the occupied territories over US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as the "capital" of Israel despite widespread international opposition to the measure.

Trump has also said Washington would relocate the US embassy in the occupied lands from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, which remains at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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 levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

Under the Israeli blockade, about 1.8 million people in Gaza are deprived of their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs with proper wages as well as adequate healthcare and education.

The Tel Aviv regime has also waged several wars on Gaza since 2008 in which thousands of Gazans have been killed or maimed and a significant portion of infrastructure in the enclave has been destroyed.

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