Israel kills two Gaza children in worst aggression since 2014

GAZA-ISRAEL BORDER — An Israeli air strike destroyed a vacant multi-storey building in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing two teenagers who were passing by, local health officials said, and Palestinian resistance fighters fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel.

It was one of the most serious flare-ups of fighting since the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza but Israel's chief occupation forces spokesman, Brigadier General Ronen Manelis, said it was premature to say whether it heralded the start of a broader campaign against resistance fighters in the enclave, run by the Islamist movement Hamas.

Three people were wounded in Israel when a rocket struck the southern town of Sderot, occupation forces claimed.

Tension had been building since Friday, when Israeli occupation forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager during protests on the Gaza border on Friday, where weekly Palestinian protests have drawn live fire and an Israeli occupation forces soldier was wounded. A second Palestinian protester died of his wounds on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will expand the scope of our reaction to Hamas’ terror attacks as much as needed. If Hamas doesn’t get our message today, it will tomorrow.”

Israeli occupation forces said it had struck more than 40 targets within several resistance compounds belonging to Hamas, in what it described as one of its widest operations since the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza.

Plumes of Smoke

The blasts shook homes and shattered windows, and black plumes of smoke rose from the sites of the explosions. 

Israeli occupation forces claimed one air strike had hit a high-rise building in Al Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, describing the target as a Hamas urban warfare training facility with a tunnel underneath.

Health officials in Gaza said the building was empty, but two Palestinians aged 15 and 16, among a crowd in a nearby public park, were killed. Around 10 other passers-by were wounded, the officials said. Nearby houses were damaged.

During the day’s fighting, Gaza resistance fighters fired more than 90 mortar bombs and rockets toward Israel, occupation forces claimed, setting off sirens and sending Israelis fleeing to shelters. Some were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missiles.

Rocket warning sirens went off in the coastal city of Ashkelon, about 12km from the enclave, further north than in recent rocket attacks. An occupation force spokesman said no hits had been identified in the city.

A Palestinian official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said Egypt and other international players were holding contacts with Israel and Gaza to restore calm. There was no immediate comment from officials in Cairo.

Weekly Protests

The fighting began on Friday, when thousands of Palestinians gathered at the Israel-Gaza border area for weekly protests that have now entered their fourth month.

Israeli occupation forces claimed Friday’s protesters were throwing burning tyres, stones, explosive devices and fire bombs at its soldiers and that one of its officers was wounded by a Palestinian grenade hurled across the border fence. 

Hours later, occupation forces launched a series of air strikes in Gaza. 

Israel claims Hamas has been orchestrating the weekly protests to distract from governance problems and provide cover for resistance fighters’ cross-border attacks. Hamas denies this. Its spokesman Fawzi Barhoum blamed Israel on Saturday for the escalation. 

More than 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the protests. 

There have been no Israeli fatalities during the “Great March of Return” demonstrations.

Gaza is home to 2 million Palestinians. Poverty has become widespread and vital infrastructure has collapsed under a 12-year blockade by Israel, which says its aim is to curb security threats by Hamas.

Egypt also keeps tight restrictions on its border crossing with Gaza. Organisers say the demonstrations aim to press demands for a right to lands lost to Israel in the 1948 war of its foundation and for the blockade to ease.