Israeli warplanes pound Gaza amid rising tensions with Palestinians

Israeli warplanes have conducted new airstrikes against targets across the besieged Gaza Strip with local Palestinian media reports saying a drone and military jets were involved in the air raid.

News ID: 449275

Date: 25 February 2020 - 09:07

RNA - Several locations were targeted in Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza on Monday afternoon.

Israeli warplanes fired at least three missiles at a site belonging to the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the resistance movement Islamic Jihad.

Separately, Israeli artillery shelled a post east of the Bureij refugee camp, which is located near the Gaza border with the Occupied Territories.

The new round of attacks came after Israeli jets bombed several locations across the Gaza Strip Sunday night, claiming that it was in response to Palestinian resistance groups' firing of rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the murder of a Palestinian earlier in the day.

The Palestinian Information Center reported early on Monday that strikes happened north, west and east of the enclave, targeting positions belonging to the Palestinian resistance. Similar attacks also targeted Palestinian groups' positions west of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area in southern Gaza.

The new spate of Israeli attacks also occurred shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chaired a security meeting in Tel Aviv.

Hours before the latest airstrike, Israeli jets bombed several locations west of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area in southern Gaza.

Israeli media earlier reported up to three rounds of retaliatory rocket attacks by Palestinians targeting localities and cities close to the strip, notably Ashkelon and Sderot.

According to a statement published by the Islamic Jihad on Sunday, the rocket strikes were in response to the murder of Islamic Jihad member Mohammed al-Naem, 27, who was shot dead by Israeli forces along the fence east of Khan Yunis earlier in the day.

Viral images from the incident showed an Israeli bulldozer speeding toward the scene and preventing other Palestinians from retrieving Naem's body before crushing the corpse and taking it away.

The Palestinians were forced to withdraw after coming under fire from Israeli soldiers. Four Palestinians were injured from gunshot wounds during the incident, according to the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in a recent statement described retaliatory the Palestinian rocket fire as a "natural result of the continued crimes of the occupation and its violations against our besieged people and the people of Gaza."

Last week, Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Naftali Bennett said Israel would begin to “hoard” the bodies of Palestinians accused of "terrorism" to use as “bargaining chips” in negotiations with resistance groups.

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