Gaza mortar barrage fired at Israel heaviest in years

He also called for council action – “to condemn Hamas for its war crimes against Israelis and Palestinians” and “to pass a resolution designating Hamas as a terrorist organization”, just as it did with the Islamic State extremist group and al-Qaida. Some were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome rocket interceptor system and others landed in empty lots and farmland.

The Israeli military said most of the projectiles were intercepted, but three soldiers were wounded, raising the chances of further Israeli retaliation.

On Tuesday and overnight, Israel responded with aircraft and tank attacks at more than 65 targets in Gaza.

The organizers explained that the need for a unified struggle is essential in light of the fact that all Palestinians are subject to the Israeli policies whether as citizens of Israel or residents of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967.

Any time Hamas or Islamic Jihad resort to firing rockets, they risk triggering a fierce Israeli response, especially if there are serious casualties on the Israeli side.

Israeli forces have killed at least 121 Palestinians in Gaza since weekly demonstrations started on March 30.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies and have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Their joint statement blamed Israel for targeting their fighters and military positions during the preceding 48 hours, cautioned against attempts to “dictate new equations” on the status quo, and warned that they would reciprocate “shelling with shelling and blood with blood”, said the United Nations envoy.

The latest cross-border violence is some of the heaviest since a 50-day war between Israel and militants in Gaza in 2014.

“It all depends on Hamas”, Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said on Israel Radio. The flare up comes after weeks of tensions heightened by the killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters by the Israeli military.

“The Security Council should be outraged and respond to this latest bout of violence directed at innocent Israeli civilians”, United States ambassador Nikki Haley said.

Among the targets hit by Israel in Gaza on Tuesday was a tunnel built to attack Israel.

Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip must be defeated.

The latest flare-up follows weeks of Israel-Gaza violence which has seen more than 100 Palestinians killed.

Hamas announced on Wednesday that a ceasefire has been reached in the Gaza Strip following Israeli strikes this week against the coastal enclave.

“The IDF is prepared for a number of scenarios, is determined to act against terrorist operatives and will continue to fulfill its mission of defending the citizens of Israel”, the army says.

But the protests appear to be fueled primarily by a desire to ease the blockade. “No one has the right to play with the lives of two million people who have lived through hell in the last decade”.