Two Palestinians were killed and five were wounded Thursday in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on the border between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources and witnesses said.

 

 The casualties occurred when Israeli war jets struck an underground tunnel with air-to-ground missiles, the Health Ministry in Gaza said in an emailed press statement.

 

 Israeli media quoted Israeli army officials as saying the air strike was retaliation for rocket attacks on Eilat that were launched from Sinai.

 

 Overnight, Hamas fighters in the Egyptian Peninsula of Sinai fired about seven makeshift rockets into southern Israel, according to an Israeli army spokesman, adding that Israel's Iron Dome defence system intercepted three rockets.

 

 The spokesman said the other four rockets landed at empty areas in the suburbs of the southern Israeli city of Eilat, close to the border between Israel and Egypt, adding that no injuries were reported.

 

 Two days ago, Israeli warplanes carried out about 17 successive airstrikes on Gaza military posts and facilities belonging to the Hamas movement's armed wing and other armed groups.

 

 Egypt brokered a ceasefire agreement between Gaza Hamas-led groups and Israel in 2014 to end 50 days of a large-scale Israeli air and ground military offensive.

 

 Some 2,200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis were killed in that conflict. </s> Two Palestinians were killed and five were wounded Thursday in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike on the border between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources and witnesses said. The casualties occurred when Israeli war jets struck an underground smuggling tunnel with air-to-ground missiles, the Health Ministry in Gaza said in an emailed press statement.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Al Bawaba. </s> GAZA: Israeli aircraft carried out a series of strikes in Gaza on Monday, wounding two people, health officials and witnesses said, after a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory struck southern Israel.

Witnesses said the aircraft attacked four security positions belonging to Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, and that the two people hurt were passers-by.

The Israeli military said that earlier a rocket fired from the enclave landed in an open area in southern Israel, causing no casualties. It had no immediate comment on the air strikes.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Palestinian rocket fire. Israel has said that Hamas bears overall responsibility for what happens in the territory.

The group has observed a de-facto ceasefire with Israel since a 2014 war but small armed cells of Jihadist Salafis have continued to occasionally launch rockets at Israel. When those attacks occur, Hamas usually orders its fighters to vacate potential targets for Israeli retaliation. </s> GAZA: Two Palestinians were martyred and five others injured when Israeli jets attacked southern Gaza Strip close to border with Egypt.

According to officials, the Israeli jets launched the strike on Gaza Strip late Wednesday night martyring two Palestinians and wounding five. </s> The Israeli military said some 300 rockets were fired by the Palestinian militants throughout Monday into Israel’s southern territories. In response to the Palestinian shelling, the Israeli military attacked over 70 militant targets in the Gaza Strip from the ground and the air. According to local doctors, three Gaza Strip residents died in Israeli strikes. One of the Israeli airstrikes specifically targeted the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV station.

“The Foreign Ministry of Lebanon condemns the aggression to which the Gaza Strip and innocent civilians are exposed. The ministry calls on the international community to take immediate action to stop air raids and the horrendous bombardments of residential areas. The Ministry expresses its condolences to the families of the innocent victims of this aggression, ” the ministry’s said in a statement, obtained by Sputnik, late on Monday,

READ MORE: IDF Planes Launch Strikes in Gaza After Israeli Bus Hit by Mortar Fire (VIDEO)

Last week, Israel carried out an undercover raid targeting a Hamas commander in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis, leaving at least seven Palestinians dead, according to reports.

The relations between the Israelis and the Palestinians near the Gaza border have been increasingly tense since 2005. The Gaza Strip is one of the two parts of the partially recognized State of Palestine, which until 2005 was Israeli territory. Palestinian protesters continue regular clashes with the Israeli troops on the border, while the Israeli side accuses Gaza of ongoing shelling. </s> Jerusalem: A baby and her pregnant mother were among three Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight, officials said, as the Jewish state struck a series of targets in response to dozens of rockets fired at its territory.

Enas Khammash, 23, and her 18-month daughter Bayan were killed in an airstrike in Jafarawi in central Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled strip said, while her husband was injured. The ministry said Enas was also pregnant.

The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident, but said it had struck around 100 "military targets" belonging to Hamas in the strip. "The Israeli strike was conducted in response to the rockets launched from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory over the course of the evening and night," it said in a statement.

It said the targets "included manufacturing facilities, training complexes and advanced weapons and capability sites" belonging to Hamas.

Smoke plumes could be seen rising from Gaza City Wednesday evening.

A Hamas militant was killed in one strike, with at least 12 others injured, the health ministry in Gaza said.

The strikes came after dozens of rockets were launched from the coastal enclave towards Israel late Wednesday.

The country's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted 11 of the roughly 70 launches, the army said, while most of the others landed in open areas.

At least two hit the Israeli town of Sderot, near Gaza's northern border, police and the army said.

One person was lightly wounded by shrapnel while several others were treated for shock in Sderot, the United Hatzalah medical service said.

A statement from the military wing of Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, claimed responsibility for the rockets. It said the Palestinian "resistance" had fired a large number of rockets at "enemy positions in the Gaza envelope".

Sirens were sounded in several Israeli areas close to the border with Gaza, warning residents to seek immediate shelter, the Israeli army said.

"As of now, approximately 70 rocket launches were identified from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory," the army said in a statement.

Israeli television broadcast images of a house and cars reportedly damaged by the rockets in Sderot.

The United Nations (UN) condemned the Hamas rocket fire. "I am deeply alarmed by the recent escalation of violence between Gaza and Israel, and particularly by today's multiple rockets fired towards communities in southern Israel," UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement.

He called on all sides to step "back from the brink". The rocket fire came after two fighters from the military wing of Hamas were killed by Israeli fire on Tuesday. Hamas warned Israel — with which it has fought three wars since 2008 — it would pay for the attack.

The escalation comes after the Hamas leadership convened for a rare meeting in Gaza on Friday.

The gathering had raised hopes for a lasting truce with Israel, with the backing of Egypt and the UN.

Clashes along the Gaza border since the end of March have seen at least 165 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.

The majority were killed during violent protests, but others have died in airstrikes or tank fire. One Israeli soldier has been shot dead by a Palestinian sniper.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. The last war in 2014 ended with a tense ceasefire and analysts say another round of conflict remains likely. </s> By AFP - Nov 13,2018 - Last updated at Nov 13,2018

A bus set ablaze after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, at the Israel-Gaza border near the kibbutz of Kfar Aza, on Monday (AFP photo)

GAZA — Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed three Palestinians on Monday after a barrage of rocket fire towards its territory from the enclave, as renewed violence threatened to derail efforts to restore calm.

Israel said it had so far struck more than 20 sites in response to some 80 launches from the Hamas-run territory, reportedly rockets and mortars.

Missile defences had intercepted a number of the rockets, the military said.

The forces said an Israeli bus was hit by fire from the Gaza Strip. Medics reported one person severely wounded.

Medics also said six people from the southern Israeli city of Sderot were lightly wounded.

Israeli forces said a rocket hit a house in Netivot, another southern Israeli town.

Gaza's health ministry said three Palestinians were killed in the Israeli strikes.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group said two were of its members.

Hamas, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire on behalf of all Palestinian groups in Gaza, saying it was in revenge for a deadly Israeli military operation late Sunday.

On Sunday, a clash erupted during an Israeli special forces operation in the Gaza Strip that killed seven Palestinians, including a local commander for Hamas' armed wing, and an Israeli police officer.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a trip to Paris and rushed home as tensions rose, and on Monday convened a meeting of security chiefs.

Israel had stressed its covert operation on Sunday was an intelligence-gathering mission and "not an assassination or abduction", but Hamas strongly denounced it and vowed revenge.

Israel signalled that Sunday’s mission did not go as planned and resulted in the clash, which Palestinian officials said included Israeli air strikes.

In the immediate aftermath of the clash, Israel said it identified 17 launches — likely rockets or mortars — towards its territory from Gaza, with three intercepted by missile defences. No injuries were reported.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, said the Israeli special forces team had infiltrated near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip in a civilian car.

Al Qassam agents stopped it and wanted to search it, realised it was an Israeli operation and confronted them, it said in a statement.

An exchange of fire followed in which local Al Qassam commander Nour Baraka was killed along with another member, it said.

The car then attempted to flee and Israeli aircraft provided covering fire.

An Israeli helicopter landed near the fence and took away the special forces troops, according to Al Qassam.

Israeli forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus declined to comment on Al Qassam account “because of the sensitive nature of the operation”.

Israel provided few details on Sunday’s operation, saying it was carried out by special forces and resulted in an “exchange of fire”.

A funeral was held for the seven Palestinians on Monday attended by thousands, including masked Al Qassam members carrying rifles, some firing into the air.

On the Israeli side of the border, residents said they had stayed close to shelters throughout the night.

“I was sitting in my living room and around 10pm or 11pm, I suddenly heard the sound of helicopter gunships firing,” said Gadi Yarkoni, head of a regional council in the area and a resident of Nirim Kibbutz.

“It was right above the village I’m living in. It was very unpleasant.”

The clashes came after months of deadly unrest along the Gaza-Israel border had appeared to be calming.

Recent weeks have seen Israel allow Qatar to provide the Gaza Strip with millions of dollars in aid for salaries as well as fuel to help ease an electricity crisis.

Before the flare-up, Netanyahu had defended his decision to allow Qatar to transfer the cash to Gaza despite criticism from within his own government over the move, saying he wanted to avoid a war if it was not necessary.

Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu’s education minister and right-wing rival, compared the cash flow to “protection money paid to criminals”.

Israel and Palestinians in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008, and recent months have raised fears of a fourth.

Deadly clashes have accompanied major protests along the Gaza-Israel border that began on March 30.

At least 230 Palestinians have since been killed by Israeli fire, the majority shot during protests and clashes, while others died in tank fire or air strikes.

Two Israeli forces personelle have been killed in that time.

Egyptian and UN officials have been mediating between Israel and Hamas in an effort to reach a long-term truce deal. </s> A barrage of around 50 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza on Saturday, witnesses said, and the Israeli military said it responded with an air strike targeting “two rocket launchers” in the Palestinian enclave.

The army said Saturday that sirens warning of incoming projectiles sounded several times in southern Israel.

In response, Israeli aircraft targeted two launch sites in northern Gaza. Local media reported three Palestinian casualties.

The deadly flare-up between Israel and Gaza militants enters a second day, shattering a month-long Egyptian-mediated easing of hostilities.

On Friday, Israel said two soldiers were wounded by gunshots from the Hamas-controlled territory. No group claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Israeli aircraft carried out retaliatory strikes, killing two Hamas militants. Two other Palestinians were killed during the weekly protests along the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence.

Egypt has been trying to reach a long-term cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, who fought three wars the past decade. </s> Initial reports claim a Hamas operative was hit in the strike. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll at one with possible injuries to passers-by. But there are conflicting accounts that the operative survived. Photographs of the aftermath show the car was hit in a built-up residential area.

Following the strike, people on social media reported the presence of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) recon aircraft and helicopters in the west of the central region. Red-alert siren alarms also sounded in southern Israel near the Gaza border. The IDF said in a statement: “Following reports regarding sirens in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, one launch was identified from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory.” Palestinian local reportied the entry of IDF aircraft into Gaza airspace.

The explosion comes after another strike by IDF against two other Palestinian cars on Tuesday. Israeli drones destroyed two cars and an observation post that were being used by Palestinians to launch incendiary balloons into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. The IDF confirmed that its aircraft conducted three strikes in response to repeated arson attacks from the Palestine costal enclave. In a statement, the IDF said: “An IDF aircraft attacked a car in the northern Gaza Strip that was being used by a group of incendiary balloon launchers, as well as an observation post from which they were launching balloons.”
At least four Palestinians are injured following Israeli air strikes in Gaza that were reportedly in response to rockets launched into southern Israel by Hamas.