Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 30 May 2018

Israeli jets bomb Gaza after mortar shells fired from strip

By ARON HELLER only got about two hours
Associated Press of sleep because of the
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli frequent incoming fire and
jets on Tuesday bombed the warning sirens. Other
targets in the Gaza Strip residents reported ma-
hours after militants from chine gun fire from Gaza.
the territory fired more than "It's been a really scary
25 mortar shells toward morning," said Adele Rae-
communities in southern mer, a resident of Kibbutz
Israel in what appeared to Nirim.
be the largest single bar- Regional councils near the
rage since the 2014 war.The Gaza border instructed
Israeli military said no one residents to remain close to
was hurt and that most of bomb shelters.
the shells were intercepted Defense Minister Avigdor
by the Iron Dome defense Lieberman convened the
system, though one landed top military brass at his Tel
near a kindergarten shortly Aviv headquarters to dis-
before it opened. cuss the situation.
The high volume of projec- "Hamas and Islamic Jihad
tiles came as tensions have have already paid a heavy
been running high in recent price and the bill has just
weeks following the deaths Israeli police officers guard a playground in a kibbutz near the Israel and Gaza border, Tuesday, been served to them," Li-
of over 100 Palestinians May 29, 2018. eberman said.
from Israeli fire during mass Associated Press The border area has been
protests along the border. tense in recent weeks
Israel says it holds Gaza's der into Egypt. green light to strike. the possibility of more con- as the Palestinians have
Hamas rulers responsible for The sudden surge in vio- "We are sticking to the right frontation and violence. Is- held mass protests aimed
the bloodshed. lence brought back mem- of return as well as respond- rael bars Gaza boats from in large part at lifting the
"Israel will exact a heavy ories of the devastating ing to the Zionist crimes," going more than six miles blockade, imposed by Is-
price from those who seek 2014 war between Israel said Khaled al-Batsh, an Is- (10 kilometers) into the rael and Egypt after Hamas
to harm it, and we see and Hamas. That round of lamic Jihad leader in Gaza Mediterranean Sea. Orga- seized power in 2007.
Hamas as responsible for fighting began with tit-for- who also has helped coor- nizers said they lost contact Israeli fire has killed more
preventing such attacks," tat attacks on both sides dinate the past two months with the ships when they than 110 Palestinians,
Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- and escalated into a full- of border protests. were 12 nautical miles from most of them during the
tanyahu said following the blown war that inflicted Ismail Radwan, a Hamas shore, but it wasn't clear Hamas-led protests, which
barrage. heavy damage on Gaza. official, said the "resistance whether it was due to a climaxed on May 14. The
Shortly after that warning, "We are prepared for a is capable of hurting the technical issue or seizure by bloodshed has drawn
Israeli jets began dropping great variety of scenari- occupation and it proved the Israeli navy. strong international criti-
bombs on what security of- os," said the army's chief this today by responding to It also marks eight years cism, with rights groups say-
ficials in Gaza said was an spokesman, Brig. Gen. its crimes." since Israeli commandos ing Israel's use of live fire is
Islamic Jihad militant train- Ronen Manelis. "The way Elsewhere in Gaza, two raided a Gaza-bound aid illegal because in many
ing site. the coming days look will fishing boats carrying stu- flotilla, killing nine pro-Pal- cases it has struck unarmed
Smoke was seen rising near depend on the choices of dents and medical pa- estinian Turks and spark- protesters who did not
the town of Deir al-Balah in the Hamas terrorist organi- tients set sail out of Gaza ing an international outcry pose an imminent threat to
the coastal strip, and the Is- zation." City's port, aiming to reach against the blockade. Israeli soldiers.
raeli military said the explo- Islamic Jihad was believed Cyprus and break an 11- In southern Israel, angry res- Israel says it is defending its
sions there were related to to be behind the mortar year naval blockade that idents complained about border and nearby com-
its activity. No injuries were fire, which appeared to be Egypt and Israel imposed how vulnerable they felt munities. It accuses Hamas
reported. retaliation for the deaths after Hamas seized power after 15 years of rocket fire of trying to carry out at-
The Israeli military said it of three of its fighters in an in Gaza. Hamas acknowl- and threats from neighbor- tacks under the cover of
carried out over 35 airstrikes Israeli airstrike earlier this edged it was mostly a sym- ing Gaza, which will likely protests, and using civilian
on seven sites across Gaza, week. But Israel believes bolic act. put pressure on the govern- demonstrators as human
including an unfinished tun- Hamas, a larger Islamic The expedition would be ment to retaliate. shields.
nel near the city of Rafah militant group that controls a new way of challenging Adva Klein, a resident of Hamas has vowed to con-
that crossed under the bor- Gaza, gave Islamic Jihad a the blockade but also raises Kibbutz Kfar Aza, said she tinue the border rallies.q