News / Palestine

Israeli tanks target Hamas observation post in southern Gaza Strip

Tuesday, 22 May 2018 1:14 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 22 May 2018 1:18 PM ]

Israeli forces fire 155-mm artillery cannons at the Gaza Strip from their position near the border between the occupied Palestinian territories and the coastal enclave. (File photo)

Israeli battle tanks have targeted the southern part of the Gaza Strip as the Tel Aviv regime goes ahead with its acts of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal sliver.

Arabic-language Palestine al-Yawm news agency reported that an artillery round struck an observation posts belonging to the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas resistance movement, east of Bureij refugee camp on Tuesday.

An unnamed Israeli army spokesman said Israeli tanks bombed a Hamas monitoring post in the southern Gaza Strip after a group of Palestinians allegedly crossed the border fence between the Gaza Strip and occupied territories, and set an Israeli military post on fire earlier in the day.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and the extent of damage caused.

At least 65 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 others wounded near the Gaza fence on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds.

Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian, who was killed during a protest at the border between the Gaza Strip and occupied territories, during his funeral in the central Gaza Strip on May 16, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

The occupied territories have witnessed new tensions ever since US President Donald Trump on December 6, 2017 announced Washington's recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and said the US would move its embassy to the city.

Muslim leaders have called for an international force to be deployed to protect Palestinian people against Israeli crimes.

The Israeli military frequently bombs the Gaza Strip, with civilians being the main target of such attacks.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian coastal sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014. The military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians. Over 11,100 others were also wounded in the war.

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot as another takes cover during a protest demanding the right to return to their homeland, at the border between the Gaza Strip and occupied territories, east of Gaza City on May 18, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

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

The Israeli regime denies about 1.8 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs with proper wages as well as adequate healthcare and education.

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