Israel strikes Gaza Strip after shooting incident
The Israeli army announced that it carried out attacks in the Gaza Strip after armed Palestinians attacked Israeli soldiers earlier in the week.
Commanders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were targeted in Thursday’s attacks, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces.
The statement said this was a response to the “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement” by “armed terrorists” when they opened fire on soldiers in the Israeli-controlled part of the southern city of Rafah two days ago.
The statement did not provide any information regarding possible casualties in Israel’s reaction.
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip said that at least nine people were killed in the evening attacks, including a Hamas commander and another from PIJ’s armed wing.
Many injuries were also reported.
Following the ceasefire last October, deadly incidents occurred repeatedly in the closed coastal area.
But large-scale Israeli attacks like Thursday’s have been rare since then.
Israeli forces generally resumed a ceasefire after launching attacks in response to such incidents.
Neighborhood residents said that the strikes ended again on this occasion.
At the same time, the IDF said in a statement that Israeli forces will continue to review any violations of the agreement “with the utmost seriousness” and will continue to take action in response.
This week, the United States announced the transition to the second phase of the Gaza Strip peace plan; However, there is still a dead hostage in the area that Hamas was supposed to hand over anyway.
The United States justified the launch of the next phase of the agreement by saying that the ceasefire has been maintained so far.
The Palestinian committee that will govern the Gaza Strip under US control met for the first time in Cairo on Friday, after its leader vowed to quickly start working to improve conditions there.
Ali Shaath, a Gazan engineer and former Palestinian Authority official, expects reconstruction and recovery to take about three years.
It plans to focus primarily on immediate needs, including housing.
“The Palestinian people were looking forward to this committee, its establishment and its work to save them,” Shaath said in a television interview with Egypt’s state broadcaster Al-Qahera News after the meeting. he said.
The committee will carry out daily affairs in the Gaza Strip under the supervision of the “Peace Board” led by US President Donald Trump, whose members have not yet been determined.
with AP
