17 May 2018•Update: 17 May 2018
By Hidaya al-Saedi and Hani al-Shaer
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Israel early Thursday raided two military sites affiliated with the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in the northern and western Gaza Strip, according to a Palestinian security source and an Israeli army statement.
“Israeli fighter jets struck a Brigades position in the town of Lahia in northern Gaza,” a Palestinian security source told Anadolu Agency anonymously due to restrictions on talking to media.
Israeli fighters, the source added, had struck the site with four missiles.
Another Hamas-linked site was targeted by Israeli warplanes west of Gaza city, the source added without providing further details.
The Israeli army, for its part, claimed in a statement early Thursday that its warplanes had struck “Hamas terror targets in northern Gaza”.
According to the statement, four of the targets were “buildings and terror infrastructure in a military compound” while three others were “in a weapons production facility”.
“The strikes were conducted in response to heavy machinegun fire that targeted the city of Sderot and southern Israel and numerous shooting attacks throughout the day,” the statement read.
Hamas has yet to comment on the Israeli army’s assertions, but the Palestinian Health Ministry said at least one person had been “moderately injured” during an Israeli raid in northern Gaza.
On Wednesday, Israeli artillery batteries shelled three Hamas-affiliated outposts near the Gaza-Israel fence.
The Israeli army said in a statement that the shelling had come in response to “shots fired at Israeli forces” near the fence.
Tension has been high near the Gaza-Israel fence amid ongoing rallies by Palestinian demonstrators to demand the right to return to their homes in historical Palestine.
The rallies are also aimed at breaking the decade-long Israeli/Egyptian siege of the Gaza Strip.
Since the Gaza rallies began on Mar. 30, more than 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire, including 62 martyred on Monday and Tuesday alone.
