Israel bombs Gaza in alleged response to a rocket attack



© Unknown



The Israeli military forces have conducted the first airstrikes on targets in Gaza Strip after the August ceasefire agreement, the BBC Israel reports.

Residents of the Khan Yunis area in Gaza reported hearing two explosions, the Associated Press news agency said.


The attack was carried out on a Hamas infrastructure site in response to a rocket, fired from Gaza several hours earlier, a statement from the Israeli defense reads.


No casualties were reported as a result of the attack.


Israel and Palestine agreed on an open-ended ceasefire, brokered by the Egyptian government, on August 26.


The truce followed an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which happened in June after Israel laid the blame for the death of three Israeli schoolboys on Hamas, a radical Palestinian Islamic organization and the de facto authority in Gaza. In response, Israel launched its operation "Protective Edge." Over 50 days of hostilities, 2,100 Palestinians and 73 Israelis lost their lives.


Palestinians want to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and want Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the Six-Day War in 1967.





Comment: Recently, EU took Hamas off their list of "terrorist" organizations and the Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon responded with the following:

The Israeli army might be forced to attack Gaza again, said the Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday, according to the army's radio channel.


Ya'alon met with Israeli soldiers and told them that they need to be ready for another war in Gaza anytime, the Israeli news radio reported. Ya'alon reportedly said, "The army might be forced to attack Gaza with all its power."



And something to keep in mind whenever you hear about 'Hamas Rockets.'

The false image of Palestinians as 'terrorists' who want to 'destroy Israel' is promoted by Israel as a bulwark against the emergence of a genuine movement for Palestinian rights that can be accepted internationally. To perpetuate the idea that Paestinian = terrorist, Israel has to launch periodic 'anti-terrorist' operations against the Palestinian people. When such operations are politically expedient, Israel manufactures a 'provocation' to justify the operation.



See also: Hamas blames 'Israeli collaborators' for launching rockets

The Hamas rulers of Gaza Strip on Tuesday lashed out at gunners who fire rockets at Israel from the Palestinian territory in violation of a seven-week-old calm, calling them Israeli collaborators. "About the rocket-firing, I think those who are responsible are those who collaborate with Israel because there is a consensus by all Palestinian groups to respect the truce," said Dr. Mahmud Zahar, a senior leader of the Hamas movement.



Is the latest attack by Israel another attempt at demonizing Hamas?

Nobody has claimed responsibility so far for the rocket attack, but the former deputy defense minister Danny Danon rushed to announce that the incident once again proves that Hamas, ruling Gaza, is a terrorist organization. Danon said.




Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog


Categories: