Israel launches new air strikes on Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out more air strikes on the Gaza Strip, following dozens of rockets fired by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
At least 14 Palestinians, including a woman and two children, were reportedly hurt in the strikes.
Hamas earlier said its members fired rockets to respond to “Zionist aggression”, after accusing Israel of killing five of its fighters.
Israel denied the claim, but said 1,500 reservists had been called up.
Tension has spiked in recent days over the murders of three young Israelis and a Palestinian teenager.
The Israeli military said its offensive was part of a campaign, targeting Hamas militants.
The military also deployed more troops near the Gaza border, reports say. However, the Israeli cabinet stopped short of ordering a ground operation for now.
Towns within 40km (24 miles) of the enclave were instructed by the central authorities to close schools and summer camps.
The army said that more rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza.
Palestinian medical and security sources said that nine of the 14 Palestinians were injured when one of the pre-dawn Israeli strikes hit a house of a Hamas activist in the southern town of Khan Younis.
Hamas militants reportedly warned they would enlarge the radius of their targets if Israel continued with the air strikes.
A Hamas spokesman had earlier accused Israel of killing the five militants during Sunday’s air strikes and called it a “grave escalation”.
He promised Israel would “pay a tremendous price”.
But Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner denied the claims, saying the men had died on Sunday in a tunnel that had been bombarded by Israel on Thursday.
He said the militants went into the tunnel to assess the damage from the air strike and meddled with some explosives, which were apparently detonated accidentally.
At least 14 Palestinians, including a woman and two children, were reportedly hurt in the strikes.
Hamas earlier said its members fired rockets to respond to “Zionist aggression”, after accusing Israel of killing five of its fighters.
Israel denied the claim, but said 1,500 reservists had been called up.
Tension has spiked in recent days over the murders of three young Israelis and a Palestinian teenager.
The Israeli military said its offensive was part of a campaign, targeting Hamas militants.
The military also deployed more troops near the Gaza border, reports say. However, the Israeli cabinet stopped short of ordering a ground operation for now.
Towns within 40km (24 miles) of the enclave were instructed by the central authorities to close schools and summer camps.
The army said that more rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza.
Palestinian medical and security sources said that nine of the 14 Palestinians were injured when one of the pre-dawn Israeli strikes hit a house of a Hamas activist in the southern town of Khan Younis.
Hamas militants reportedly warned they would enlarge the radius of their targets if Israel continued with the air strikes.
A Hamas spokesman had earlier accused Israel of killing the five militants during Sunday’s air strikes and called it a “grave escalation”.
He promised Israel would “pay a tremendous price”.
But Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner denied the claims, saying the men had died on Sunday in a tunnel that had been bombarded by Israel on Thursday.
He said the militants went into the tunnel to assess the damage from the air strike and meddled with some explosives, which were apparently detonated accidentally.
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