News / Palestine

Israeli airstrikes, tank fire hit besieged Gaza Strip

Wednesday, 05 October 2016 2:04 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 05 October 2016 2:14 PM ]

The picture shows smoke rising from the besieged Gaza Strip after an Israeli military strike on the coastal sliver on October 5, 2016. (Photos by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes and tank shells have pounded the besieged Gaza Strip after an alleged rocket attack from the Palestinian coastal sliver targeted the occupied territories.

The tank shelling hit an observation post belonging to the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, near the northern city of Beit Hanun on Wednesday, with local residents and Hamas-run media saying that no one sustained injuries in the attack.

Hamas security sources said the post, which came under the Israeli shelling, was run by the movement’s military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

According to Hamas security officials, Israeli jets also carried out two strikes in eastern Gaza Strip, while two other air raids hit the southern city of Khan Yunis and the al-Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City in the coastal enclave’s north.

Local sources further reported that Israeli reconnaissance planes were hovering over Beit Hanun.

The picture shows an Israeli military Apache helicopter flying over the besieged Gaza Strip on October 5, 2016.

The developments came hours after the Israeli military claimed a rocket had hit a street of Sderot in the occupied territories.

Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said on Twitter that the incident caused some damage, but no injuries were reported.

An Israeli forensic policeman takes pictures of the damage after an alleged rocket attack in Sderot on October 5, 2016.

Israeli media quoted the Ahfad al-Sahaba-Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis group as claiming responsibility for the rocket attack in Sderot.

Back in August, Tel Aviv targeted Gaza with dozens of airstrikes and tank shelling after a rocket allegedly hit Sderot.

Israel has waged three wars on Gaza since 2008, including the 2014 offensive, which left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead and over 11,100 others injured.

Israel continues to carry out attacks on the Palestinian coastal sliver from time to time.

Israeli fighter jets also frequently bomb Gaza. The Israeli military also uses drones over the impoverished region either to monitor and photograph Palestinian military units in the blockaded coastal enclave, or launch aerial attacks against targets.

Gaza has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty in the Palestinian coastal enclave.

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